The Comet Wish
by morianna19
Summary: What would you do if one night you made a wish on a comet and the next morning woke up on the Going Merry? Join Rose, an otaku who's about to have the adventure of a lifetime as she lives through the arcs of One Piece with the Straw Hats! LuffyxOC I don't own anything but the OC. Rated T for safety. (REWRITE HAS STARTED IN 'A WISH ON A COMET' SO NO NEW CHAPTERS!)
1. Chapter 1

After another tiring day working at Tony's pizzeria in New York City Rose Catone: A 5 and a half foot tall pale skinny girl with long brown hair, freckles, and purple eyes made it back to to her foster home and was completely ready for bed. However, before the brunette went to bed she went to place her paycheck into her anime con fund. She reads as many manga's from Rurouni Kenshin, One Piece, Ouran Host Club and many others as she could find. She also watches as many anime episodes as she could find online from the manga that she reads and plenty others that give her a new world to explore. With this new paycheck she received she can finally achieve her dream of going to an anime convention for the first time.

When she looked into her hiding place however she found that everything was in place but the money she worked months to save. There are only two people in her mind who would do this and she's going to find her culprits right now.

"MARIE! LAURA! WHERE ARE YOU?!" Her twin older foster sisters were lounging in the living room watching the Jersey Shore when they heard Rose. Rose approached them both fuming with rage.

"Where...Is... It?" Rose said slowly with rage increasing with each word.

"Where is what Rosie?" Marie asked sarcastically knowing full well what she was talking about.

"Don't give me that! You know full well I'm talking about the money!" Rose said trying to hold back the urge to punch her sister.

"Money? OH! You mean the money you left us to go prom shopping with!" Laura said.

"You did what? I WAS SAVING THAT MONEY TO GO TO THE CONVENTION NEXT MONTH YOU BITCHES!" Rose yelled unable to contain her anger anymore.

"Ha! The money was better spent with us in my opinion. At least now it won't be wasted in your childish Chinese cartoon obsess-" Marie was cut off by a punch in the face by Rose that sends her falling to the ground.

"FOR THE LAST TIME ANIME IS JAPANESE! IF YOU'RE GOING TO INSULT ME DO IT RIGHT YOU PRISS!"

Pissed off that her face is going to leave a mark Marie lunges at Rose with Laura joining in the fight to get back at punching Marie. Rose is a part the martial arts club at school so she is capable of holding her own against her two foster sisters but both twins like to use their nails as a weapon leaving deep scratch marks all over her pale skin. In return for these claw marks she managed to give each of the twins a broken nose and a fair amount of bruises.

"WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?!" Rick the twins' father and Roses foster dad who just returned from work shouted as he sees the girls on the floor fighting.

"DADDY! ROSIE ATTACKED US!" Both twins yell as they run to their dad for comfort, and protection.

"Rose?! What were you thinking breaking their noses this close to prom? Don't you realize that they need to look their best?"

"There are things more important than prom! These two stole the money I saved for the convention from my room, and used it to buy prom stuff!" Rose yelled in fury.

"Did you two at least get all that you needed for the big day?" Rick said not paying attention to how they got the money.

"We did daddy the money was just enough to make us look great until... my nose WAAH!" Laura cried knowing that she will win no matter what.

"What are we going to do about our noses daddy? We can't go like this!" Marie cried

Rick then glared at Rose who knew full well where this is going "Rose, I expect you to pay for their broken noses, and a full-fledged apology for acting like a savage."

"No way! These thieves already stole most of my money, and I would rather run the streets naked than apologize to these spoiled brats."

Rick was the one fuming now. "Then I guess we're going to have to sell those comics that you have collected in order to pay for the injuries. As for the apology, until you do so I don't want to see you reading a single comic, cartoon, and going to that fighting club is off limits now too."

"What?! If anyone should be punished it's these two for stealing my hard earned money! Looks aren't everything they could just go with a bandage on their noses!"

Marie and Laura were both horrified of the idea.

"The very idea! For your information looks are everything, but I wouldn't expect a little orphan barbarian to understand that simple concept. For someone with a cute name you're not cute at all. I truly pity you." Marie said with sarcastic pity

"I think this is a great punishment daddy! It's about time she enters the real world instead of those silly cartoon worlds that she gets so obsessed with." Laura says with a snotty attitude.

Rose walks over to give them another punch but Rick stopped her. "Rose, go to your room now! Before I consider kicking you out of my house."

He didn't have to tell her twice. She ran back to the room before she can add more fuel to the fire. She slams the door to her room and slumps down to the floor crying with her head cradled by her arms and clutching the only heirloom her family left her hanging around her neck.

(Damnit! Why do I have to be stuck with this family until I'm 18? I'm supporting myself just fine at 17 so why can't I just leave?) She doesn't move until something starts flashing outside the window that catches her attention. She walks up to the window and finds a large comet passing by up in the sky. Without thinking she makes a wish on the comet while holding her mother's necklace to the comet remembering the way she used to wish on a comet.

"I wish I can go into the anime world, any anime world is better than this one. As long as I have a means to protect myself I don't care which anime world I go to. Please comet grant my wish"

Rose then starts to giggle "hehe, man I must be really desperate to be wishing on a comet. Mom, dad I miss you guys..." As fresh tears stream down her face she decides to head off to bed. She changes out of her work clothes and changes into her favorite One Piece t-shirt and flannel pants then goes to sleep with this last thought. (Hehe, too bad that wish can't happen. If it did the One Piece world would've been a great adventure).

* * *

Rose wakes up suddenly feeling chilly even though she felt completely warm about 5 seconds ago. She sits up half dazed looking at the surroundings around her to find that she is no longer in the apartment anymore but what seems to be on the deck of a boat.

(What the hell is going on?) She starts to stand up and finds something in her hand: a light blue fruit with swirls on it shaped like a mango.

(Where did this fruit come from? Maybe a better question would be what is this fruit? I've never seen anything like it before.) She was still confused until she noticed the goats head on the ship and immediately recognized it as the Going Merry.

(HOLY SHIT! I'M ON THE GOING MERRY!) Her purple eyes go from shock to pure excitement in a matter of seconds. "How did this happen? Did the comet do this?" She looks around seeing if there is a sign of how it happened, but nothing until she looks at her shirt with the One Piece logo missing.

(I guess this is how the comet chose my destination, and the devil fruit must be the means to protect myself.) Rose smiles to herself in true glee that she is finally away from her world, and is ready to make a fresh start with the Straw Hats.

She's surprised no one noticed her. The sun has just begun to rise today, so no one is awake yet. She starts walking around the deck and exploring her new surroundings. (Let's see, since I'm on the Going Merry we must be somewhere before the Water 7 Arc. Good thing I'm up to the Punk Hazard Arc. Ouch!)

She suddenly remembers the claw marks her foster sisters gave her the night before. (Before I meet the Straw Hats I probably should try to make these marks look better. I don't want to scare them)

She sneaks into the ship with the devil fruit trying to be as quiet as possible without the crew noticing her presence until she walks into what appears to be a small infirmary on the ship. (Perfect! Now all I need to do is patch up my marks. Oh wait! Before something happens I should eat this). She takes the first bite of the devil fruit in her hand and regrets it immediately.

"EW! How the hell did devil fruit users deal with this taste?! Bleugh!" She mutters, and keeps getting grossed out as she finishes the devil fruit and guzzles down a bucket of water to get the taste out of her mouth.

(Hmm… I don't really feel any different. Did the comet give me a dud?) She tries to find out what her power is when she hears voices just outside the room.

"Go into the infirmary now Zoro! I wanna check your injuries from the last battle before breakfast." the voice says who Rose could only guess it to be Chopper.

"Alright, if it will get you off my back faster let's get it over with." Zoro says.

(Shit... Of all the people for Chopper to check up now it had to be Zoro. I gotta hide! I gotta hide!) She scrambles urgently until she finds some barrels to hide behind. (Shit… Why didn't I just stay on the deck? They're gonna think I'm a thief now damnit!)

Zoro and Chopper walk into the room and Zoro immediately detects that something is not right. "Chopper, before we start the physical mind if I look around the room for a bit?"

Chopper is confused about the request but he complies.

Zoro looks around and Rose is immediately starting to panic. When she doesn't hear anyone's voices she decides to peek a little only to see Zoro with his sword out about to cut her in half.

"AAAAAAAHHHHHH!" Rose screams as she jumps out of the way in time to dodge the blade and lands on her butt in front of a scared Chopper running to "hide" behind the counter, and a pissed off Zoro who pointed his sword right in front of her freckled face.

"You got five seconds to tell me who you are and how you got on this ship." Zoro says with a menacing aura emanating from him.

(Like you would believe I'm from an alternate universe...) Rose sweat drops from the fear of knowing this is no idle threat. "U-Um my name is Rose and how I got here... You would not believe me if I told you…"

"Wrong answer." Zoro unsheathes all three katanas and prepares to lunge at her.

Chopper watched in horror as Rose quickly stands up and bolts it out the door and into the hall to get away from a pursuing Zoro.

(Crap! Crap! Crap! I've been in this world for what? One hour, and I've already pissed off Roronoa Zoro! Hehe, just my luck… Come on devil fruit powers, give me something to work with here!) She silently pleads but nothing happens causing her to get frustrated while running with Zoro on her tail.

"Three sword style... Onigiri!" Zoro charges at her with the back of his blades.

(Shit! I'm so dead! Come on devil fruit, help me avoid the attack!) Suddenly, a burst of wind lifts her above Zoro's head dodging the onigiri attack and landing her safely on the other side of him. She kept running while shocked of what just happened while an equally shocked swordsman kept up the chase.

(What the? I can't believe it, I got the Wind Wind fruit? That is... completely AWESOME! I've always wanted to fly! Wait, less celebrating more running! Zoro is still out for my head. Alright, here goes nothing umm... I command thee wind get me away from Zoro?!) As if on command another gust of wind lifts her up making her fly at top speed causing Zoro to run full speed after her.

"GET BACK HERE!" As the chase ensued Luffy and Usopp were heading out of the men's quarters pumped for breakfast until they see the chase heading towards them.

Rose sweat dropped at Usopps shocked and Luffys excited expressions. (Oh boy... This can't be good...)

"AAH! AN INTRUDER IS ON THE SHIP FLYING AT US! RUN! Usopp yelled while running back to the room.

"AWESOME! SHE'S FLYING!" Luffy yelled with excitement in his eyes.

"QUIT GAWKING AND HELP ME STOP THAT GIRL!" Zoro yelled out to Luffy

"GOT IT!" Luffy grabs the girls shoulder and pulls her back but it didn't make her stop. Instead it made Rose go on a U turn with Luffy grabbing onto her, hugging her from behind and becoming a part of the ride.

Zoro looks at him in disbelief. "I SAID STOP HER! NOT RIDE WITH HER IDIOT!"

"What the-? What are you doing?!" Rose blushes from the contact, and struggles to keep control of her flying with a passenger.

"Whoohoo! This is awesome! Hey, how do you stop?" Luffy says as he completely ignores Roses question.

"I honestly have no idea..."

Both flyers are now about to collide with Zoro. He sheathes his swords to avoid the risk of Luffy getting hurt but tries to push her to a stop but as contact was about to be made Rose accidentally made Zoro go straight through her with her new Logia type abilities.

"Ah crap, I can do that too?! Wow!" Rose muttered in excitement not realizing where she was going and looks ahead to see she's about to hit a wall. "Luffy! The ride's over now you gotta let go!"

"No." Luffy deadpanned causing Rose to facepalm.

"Then you leave me no choice." She bites Luffy's hands forcing him to let go and causes her to go full speed to crash through the wall, and stop right above the ocean.

(Crap!) Rose tries to summon more wind to get her inside but nothing happens leading her to plop straight into the ocean.

* * *

Zoro managed to fish out the mysterious wind girl before she was too deep in the ocean but not soon enough where she didn't pass out. He managed to bring her out of the water and lay her onto the deck of the Going Merry where 6 other crew members look to see who's the intruder that caused all this chaos so early in the morning.

Chopper makes sure that she's breathing while Nami stares at her with curiosity. "So, you and Zoro found her in the infirmary Chopper?"

He sighs in relief that she's breathing then turns to Nami. "Y-Yeah she hid behind some barrels, but Zoro detected her right away and started slicing at her."

Robin looks at her and notices her claw marks. "I wonder how she got those marks on her body?"

"HOW DARE YOU CUT SUCH A PRETTY GIRL MARIMO?!" Sanji yells furiously as he jump kicks Zoro and he blocks with his katanas.

"Those marks weren't me ero cook! I didn't even land a hit on her because of her devil fruit!"

Chopper went to get the first aid kit as Sanji and Zoro bicker.

Robin uses her devil fruit ability to sprout hands off the deck to stop the two from fighting and puts them in a hold. She turns her attention to Zoro as she releases her hold on them. "What kind of devil fruit does she possess Zoro?"

"My guess is she ate the Wind Wind fruit. She was using it to fly away from me, but she doesn't have any control over it."

Chopper returns with the first aid kit to treat her. "From the looks of these marks it looks like she was clawed by something or someone. We can't say for certain until she wakes up. But, these are pretty deep... I wonder what happened?"

"What I want to know is how she came here in the first place. We haven't been to an island in over a week. It's possible she flew here, but with her lack of control it's not likely." Nami says

Usopp looks at her nervously. "What if she's here to attack us? Because if she is I will use my super Usopp punch to keep us safe!"

Chopper stares at him with stars in his eyes. "R-really?! That's so cool Usopp!"

Luffy shakes his head. "Nah! I wouldn't worry, she's not a bad person."

Zoro raises an eyebrow at him. "How the hell do you know that?"

"Before she crashed she forced me to get off so I wouldn't crash along with her." He shows his bite marks as proof.

Robin giggles. "Heehee, she's a mystery but we'll have to wait until she wakes up to find out more about her."

The crew nods in agreement as they look at the unconscious brunette with curiosity.

* * *

 _"Remember Rose there are many different worlds out there." Rose' mother says before placing her 5 year old daughter to bed. "These different worlds are like the countries in our world. There can be many differences in ways of life but we're all the same in the end."_

 _Rose looks up at her mother curiously. "Mommy, is there a way to travel to one of these worlds?"_

 _"Not yet my dear, but with your father's and my research we should find a way for us to explore other worlds someday soon."_

 _Rose beams with excitement_ _"I can't wait!"_

 _Roses father chuckles as he leans against the doorway. "Hehe, then we have another reason to finish the research." He starts walking up to his wife and daughter while continuing. "Once we figure out how the Timore Comet works, and how we can use its power we'll let you be the first inter world traveler."_

 _Rose pouts at that. "No, I want all three of us to go together!"_

 _Both parents giggle at her cute declaration before her mother kisses her forehead. "Alright Rose, once we complete our research we'll go together but for now the only world you should be concerned about is your dream world. Good night Rose."_

 _Her father kisses his daughters cheek before tucking his child in. "Good night sweetie."_

 _"Good night mommy and daddy. Love you." The child curled up in bed before immediately going off into her dreams._

* * *

Rose woke up with a smile from remembering her parents, but the realization of what happened earlier today hits her and takes her out of her happy daze when she sees 7 curious faces staring down at her intensely.

Rose sweat drops at the awkward silence between her and the crew. (Oh boy, So much for my first impression... I better be careful what I say here.)

She nervously smiles while waving. "H-hi there everybody... Thank you for fishing me out of the ocean. My name is Rose and-" While she was trying to explain herself a rose suddenly appears in her line of vision courtesy of Sanji.

"My dear, you are the most beautiful rose I have ever seen making this poor flower pale against your loveliness. I'm truly captivated by the magnificent angel that decided to float down from heaven and grace us with her glorious pres-" Nami cuts Sanji off with a punch to the side of the head.

"Stop flirting Sanji! We have more concerning matters to deal with here!" Nami turns her way to Rose. "My name is Nami and this idiot is Sanji. Where exactly did you come from?"

"Well... It's kind of hard to explain, it's a long story." Rose says not fully sure how to explain herself.

Robin steps up to her. "My name is Robin. Is it true that you ate the Wind Wind fruit?"

Rose nodded, but when she tried to demonstrate it didn't work. "I swear I'm definitely a devil fruit user, but I just ate it today so I'm not fully sure how it works... I'm just grateful it worked this morning."

"How did you know my name?" Luffy asks.

"You're pretty famous where I'm from. I still can't believe that I'm meeting you today." Rose said with a smile.

"I'm the great warrior of the sea Usopp. Y-you had better not be an enemy because if you are I have 8000 men at my disposal ready to attack so be prepared!" Usopp says while trembling worried about her being an enemy.

Rose giggles at the obvious lie "Don't worry Usopp, I don't wanna fight you nor your men."

"U-um my name is Chopper. How did you get these claw marks? It's not like I care or anything! I'm just concerned as a doctor." Chopper asked defensively as he finishes treating the marks.

"My foster sisters gave them to me after they stole my money, but don't worry I didn't get these marks in vain. I managed to break both of their noses!" She gives him a triumphant grin. "Thank you for treating me Chopper. I'm sorry for scaring you back there. I wanted to treat the marks before I introduced myself, but the whole scenario happened… Everyone, thank you for fishing me out and I'm sorry for intruding the ship, biting your captain, and making a hole in your ship." She politely bows while Sanji walks up to her with hearts in his eyes.

"There's no need for you to apologize Rose-chwan. If anyone should apologize it's the moss head who should for scaring you into a chase."

Zoro twitches an eyebrow. "What was that love cook?! If she had just explained herself I wouldn't have chased her"

Sanji turns to him angrily. "Shut it marimo! She was probably scared of that demonic mug of yours!"

"Oh yeah?!" Sanji and Zoro go back to bickering and having a leg and sword clash.

Rose giggles at the scene in front of them and turns to Luffy "They're always like that huh?"

"Yup! They're really funny, but Sanji is right don't apologize. If you didn't bite me I would've fallen in as well. SHISHISHI." He flashes that toothy grin at her then his face shows an idea popped into his head. "Hey Rose, how about joining my crew?"

Roses eyes widen in shock along with the rest of the crew except Sanji with hearts in his eyes.

"Are you sure it's a good idea Luffy?" Usopp asks with some suspicion left in his eyes.

Luffy nods with a big smile. "Yup! I'm sure she's a good person, besides I wanna go flying again."

Usopp sweat drops at his attitude. (That's probably his only reason...)

"That's a great idea captain! What do you say Rose-chwan? Would you join my side and sail the world with me?!" Sanji says with hearts in his eyes as he kneels in front of Rose while she's complete frozen and not sure of what to do.

Nami whacks Sanji again "Sanji, knock it off! You're gonna scare her! I think it would be a great idea of you joining the crew too. It would be nice to have more girls in the crew."

Robin nods in agreement

"As long as it's ok with the captain I'm fine with it but if you betray us I won't hesitate to cut you down." Zoro says earning him a kick in the head from Sanji

"Don't threaten her moss head!"

As Rose watches the scene before her she can only feel one thing that she hasn't felt in a long time: the feeling of belonging in a family.

"I-I'd love to join the crew! Thank you so much!" Rose politely bows and earns a smile from the crew.

"WHOOHOO! WE GOT A NEW CREW MEMBER! LET'S CELEBRATE!" Luffy yells.

"I'll prepare something extra special for Rose-chwan." With that Sanji hurried to the kitchen to start whipping up a celebration breakfast.

"By the way Rose, what are you wearing?" Nami inquires as the guys were scattering about to their daily activities.

Rose suddenly realized that she was still in her pajamas this whole time. "Back where I'm from this is the usual sleep wear..."

"I see, in that case you can borrow some of my clothes until we reach the next island. Robin, can you help us out here?"

"Of course, this will be fun." Robin says.

"Thank you." Rose says

While the three girls head inside Rose couldn't help but wish to herself that she could stay here forever and cannot wait to start her new adventures.

TO BE CONTINUED


	2. Chapter 2

Roses first day of joining the crew had already been filled with excitement from Zoro's chase and she can't wait to see what the rest of the day would hold. Right now the girls are deciding what she can borrow until they reach the next island. Being a little tom boyish Rose didn't really care about the appearance as much as the function, so she chose a simple pair of jeans, black sneakers and a blue long sleeve shirt.

When looking in the mirror Rose immediately spots the rhombus shaped, half red, half black crystal hanging around her neck, and unconsciously touches it with a soft smile. (I'm so glad this made the journey.)

Both Robin and Nami look at the necklace curiously as they never saw a necklace with that type of crystal before.

"What type of crystal is in that necklace?" Robin asks.

Rose immediately snapped out of her daze "To be honest I'm not fully sure myself. My parents gave this to me when I was 10 celebrating that…" Rose started to cut herself off remembering how happy her parents were that day saying their research was completed at last before the tragedy happened. Nami and Robin notice this and they walk over to put a hand on her shoulders.

"Don't worry, we all have scars that are hard to share. If you ever want to talk about it just let us know." Nami said with a smile.

"She's right Rose, there's no rush. Whenever you are ready to talk about your past just let us know." Robin says with her usual smile but there was warmth in it.

"Thanks guys, I really a-ah- ACHOO!" Rose sneezes, accidentally uses her wind to send her flying out of the room and slams her back against the the hallway wall. She cradles her aching head as she staggers back up. (Seriously?! The flying sneeze routine?! What am I, the Last Air Bender? That reminds me though… I gotta learn how to control this ability before I destroy the ship.)

Both girls run out of the room.

"Are you ok Rose?" Nami asks.

She nods with a grin. "Y-yea, I'm ok… I'm glad I was able to demonstrate my devil fruit ability at least hehe…"

Robin crosses her arms over her chest. "Hmm… I think it's best if we start training you on your ability before you get hurt again."

"My thoughts exactly only question is how to do that?"

"I have an idea." Robin says with a grin that makes the other two afraid of what she's thinking.

* * *

As the girls head over to the mess hall for breakfast the guys were glad they finally arrived because now Sanji would allow them to eat.

"I'm so glad you're here Nami-swan, Robin-chwan, and Rose-chwan you all look absolutely stunning. I whipped up a lovely breakfast to commemorate the arrival of our new crew member." Sanji swoons to the girls as he places three plates in front of them with the most delicious looking plate of pancakes Rose has ever seen with hearts drawn on top by maple syrup.

"Thank you Sanji, this looks great." When the freckled brunette took the first bite she immediately felt like she was in heaven. (I knew Sanji's food was good but wow this is amazing! Much better than the TV dinners back home.)

Everyone is enjoying breakfast while keeping up their guard from Luffy's wandering hand trying to grab as much food as possible. As Luffy tries to grab a bite from Rose's plate he was met with a fork stabbed into his hand.

Rose grins triumphantly while continuing to eat her breakfast. "Nice try Luffy. It's gonna take more than that to steal my food."

Usopp laughed at what he just saw. "She showed you Lu-" He froze when he saw his pancakes gone. "HEY LUFFY! GIVE ME BACK MY FOOD!" Usopp yells as Luffy eats Usopp's breakfast.

It was everyone else's turn to laugh now except for Zoro who left to go training after he finished his food.

After breakfast everyone but Sanji and Rose left the kitchen.

"Hey Sanji do you need any help with the dishes?" Rose asks.

The blonde shakes his head as he rolls his sleeves up to do the dishes. "Don't worry, I can take care of it."

"Are you su-"

"Rose come on out it's time to practice." Robin interrupts from outside.

"Go on ahead Rose-chan, I'll be fine here." Sanji says with an assuring grin.

"Alright, wish me luck." (I'm gonna need it…)

* * *

"So, what exactly was this idea of yours?" Rose asks completely nervous about what Robin is going to say especially with a rope in her hand.

"It's simple, all we have to do is put you in a similar situation where you were when you first used your ability so you can learn to channel it willingly. In your case you're going to be attacked." Robin ties the long rope around Roses waist to the mast. "This is just an extra precaution so that you don't go flying into the ocean again."

"Isn't there a better way to do this?" (I feel like a dog on a leash...)

"Don't worry, as long as you use your ability you shouldn't die."

Rose sweat drops at Robin's comment. (That doesn't make me feel better about this…) "Zoro isn't gonna be the attacker is he?" She shudders at the memory of her high speed chase this morning.

Robin chuckles at the nervous girl "Don't worry, I have a few others in mind for this experiment."

"What did you need us for Robin?" Luffy says as he and Chopper start walking towards her.

"I need your help with getting Roses power under control. Would we be expecting Long Nose as well?"

Chopper shakes his head. "No, he said something about fixing the hole in the ship after we left breakfast."

"I'm sorry again for that…" Rose says still feeling guilty about what happened.

Luffy shakes his head with a toothy grin. "Don't worry about it, the Merry has been through tougher scrapes than that when we were up in the sky."

Rose feels a little better from his smile "I see- Wait, did you say when you were in the sky? Do you mean Skypiea?!"

"Yea that's the one. I'm surprised you heard about it." Chopper says with curiosity.

She rubs the back of her head nervously. "Oh well… I heard great stories about Skypiea back in my hometown. It sounded like a really cool place." (At least from what I've seen in this story. So we're that close to the Water 7 arc, I wonder how that will play out.)

Robin gives her a curious look but focuses back into the training. "Alright you two here is what I want you to do: Doctor I want you to try attacking Rose in close combat range. Captain, I want you to try to attack her from a distance. Since Long Nose cannot come you're going to have to be the long distance opponent."

"I don't think this is a great idea Robin. Rose is still hurt from those claw marks and the crash, she should wait a bit." Chopper says with a concerned look for his new patient.

Rose walks over to him, kneels down to his level, and pats him on the head with a reassuring smile. "Don't worry doc, it will take more than a few scratches from those two to hurt me. Back where I'm from I'm one of the best fighters in my school. I can take a hit, and as long as you're my doctor I know I'm in good hands."

Chopper whacks her hand away. "SHUT UP! Don't think your compliments make me feel happy human! Your compliments mean nothing to me at all! Heeheehee!" Chopper says while showing his real emotions in a happy dance.

"Hehe, I see. ALRIGHT! Let's see what my new crewmates got!" Rose gets in a stance with excitement in her eyes..

"That's the spirit. LET'S GO!" Luffy yells throwing the first punch in which Rose side steps out of the way in time.

Chopper goes into Heavy Point and starts punching her with Luffy continuing to give her Gum Gum Pistols. Rose steps back to dodge Choppers punches and holds back on punching back only wanting to fight with her wind. As Luffy throws his punches Rose manages to dodge but got hit with some of Choppers punches in the process.

She tries to use her wind abilities but nothing seems to come out as she continues to dodge until she reaches the end of the rope and is now cornered with Chopper and Luffys punches. (Crap! I gotta do something quick… What worked once right? I command thee wind send me flying to avoid these punches!) For once her power worked as she wanted as a large gust of wind sends her flying up avoiding both Chopper and Luffys punches. (I think I'm getting the hang of how to fly now the real question is how I get down…) As she's thinking this she remembers her situation as Luffy's punches heads towards her. (Damnit! GO THROUGH ME! GO THROUGH ME!) As she thinks this she prepares for the worst but as Luffy's punch heads closer her Logia powers come into effect and Luffy's punch manages to go through her.

"AWESOME! I CAN'T BELIEVE THAT WORKED!" (Let's see if this works… Wind, I order you to land me.) as she thinks this the wind under her disappears causing her to drop from 7 feet in the air. (Crap! Wind stop me from falling!) as she pleads this the wind manages to catch her just before she hits the ground "Wow that worked" Rose muttered with a smile.

"Good job, I think that's enough training for today" Robin says as she unties the rope and heads to sit down with her book.

"THAT WAS GREAT! CAN YOU MAKE ME GO FLYING NOW?!" Luffy yelled with enthusiasm.

"I'm not fully sure how to do that yet, but once I do though you'll be my first flyer deal?"

"YOSH!"

Chopper runs over to examine Rose "Let me see your injuries, you got hit a couple of times. Are you hurt anywhere?"

She shakes her head with a smile. "Nope I'm good, you pulled your punches during the training right? Because of that I'm not hurt, thanks doc."

"Stupid! Your thanks doesn't mean anything at all! I don't want your thanks!" Chopper says with a big smile and happy dance.

"I see." Rose says with a smile as the kitchen door slams open revealing an angry Sanji.

"LUFFY! WHERE ARE YOU?!"

"Oh boy…" Luffy mutters as he tries to run, but Sanji already saw him and kicked him to the ground.

"YOU STOLE MEAT FROM THE FRIDGE AGAIN DIDN'T YOU?!"

Luffy's lips purse to the side and his eyes avert everywhere but Sanji's eyes "I didn't take any meat..."

"You are literally the worst liar in the world." Sanji says as he whacks Luffy with a fishing rod. "Because of you we're out of meat, so unless you fish us some food you're going without dinner tonight." Sanji walks back to the kitchen leaving Luffy to groan.

"Aww man… Hey Rose, Chopper come help me fish!"

"Alright!" Chopper says as he grabs a fishing pole for him and Rose.

Chopper hands one to Rose, but she quickly steps back, looks away nervously, and shifts her eyes everywhere "A-actually I can't… I ha-have an allergy to fishing poles!"

"You are one of the worst liars I have ever seen." Usopp says as he returns from patching up the hole in the ship.

"I don't want to hear that from you Usopp."

"Could it be that you never fished before Rose?" Robin inquires not taking her eyes off the book.

Rose blushes from embarrassment for being found out "Was it that obvious?"

"You really never fished before?" Chopper asks and she nods.

"Don't worry Rose, I've managed to catch a two headed sea king when I was twelve years old! Teaching you how to be a master fisherman like me would be easy." Usopp lies with a proud face.

"Re-REALLY?! Teach me how to catch a sea king Usopp!" Chopper says with excitement.

"I WANNA LEARN TOO!" Luffy yells with excitement of wanting to eat a sea king.

Usopp nods with a thumbs up. "Not a problem! What do you say Rose wanna to learn how to fish?"

"YEA! It sounds like fun." Rose says with excitement.

"GREAT! I'll be right back with my fishing pole." Usopp says as he rushes into the boat and returns in a flash with his fishing pole.

"Alright, so how do I do this?" Rose asks as she grabs the fishing pole Chopper offered.

"It's easy, all you gotta do is lean the rod back, release the clip holding the line, and then push forward letting the line go like this." Usopp says as he shows Rose, Luffy and Chopper how to cast.

Rose, Chopper and Luffy all watched with excitement and copy Usopps cast.

(I see, this kind of reminds me of Hunter X Hunter. Hehe, I hope I don't get anything too small) Rose focused on her line until it started tugging causing Rose to pull back on the rod trying not to lose her grip. "Hey Usopp! I think I caught something! What do I do now?"

Usopp blinks in surprise. "Wow, that was quick. Alright, all you got to do is reel it in."

"Right!" Rose tries to reel it in but it gets harder and harder as the fish keeps fighting and is about to pull her into the water along with the rod until Luffy grabs her by the waist keeping her from going in and causing her to blush lightly as she continues to reel it in. "Th-thanks Luffy. What the hell did I catch?" Rose keeps working to reel it in while the reel is getting harder to use.

Chopper now goes into heavy point to help Rose reel it in as Usopp gets his net out for the fish. However, that net isn't going to do them any good as the fish surfaces and turns out to be a huge shark quarter the size of the Merry that was sent flying out of the ocean by Luffy and Choppers strength. The four fishermen scream in surprise as the shark tries to dive down onto them but before it could harm anyone Luffy gave it a Gum Gum Pistol and accidentally sent it flying into the air.

(Crap! I don't want to lose my first catch!) Rose tries to summon her wind focusing on what she wants the wind to do and as she does this a gust of wind goes under the shark before it goes back into the water and she forces the wind to land it onto the deck "I did it… AWESOME! THAT WAS SO MUCH FUN! CAN WE DO THAT AGAIN?!" Rose turns to the guys in excitement to find a look of shock from Usopp and Chopper while her captain looks at the fish with excitement.

"THIS FISH IS HUGE! SANJI! COOK UP THIS SHARK WE GOT!" Luffy yells as he brings the shark over to the kitchen.

Usopp looks at her with a cloud of depression over his head. "Y-you said this was your first time…?"

"Yea it was, but I wouldn't have been able to catch it without your lesson. Thank you Usopp, you're a great teacher." Rose says while patting his shoulder trying to comfort him.

Usopp immediately recovers and gives her a thumbs up. "I'M GLAD I WAS ABLE TO HELP! IF YOU EVER NEED MORE FISHING LESSONS THE GREATEST FISHERMAN IN THE WORLD CAPTAIN USOPP IS HERE TO HELP!"

She sweat drops at the recovery. (He recovers quick… I can't believe my wind worked. Robin's training really paid off, I better thank her later.)

"LET'S SEE IF WE CAN CATCH SOMETHING BIGGER!" Chopper yells with excitement from the catch.

"YEA, LET'S GO!" Rose and Usopp say as they pick up their poles and fished for the rest of the day.

* * *

As the sun starts to set and the crew finishes dinner and heads out to get ready for bed. Rose notices that Luffy has been absolutely quiet which kind of surprised her.

She walks up behind him. "Hey Luffy is everything alright?"

"We had a deal."

"Eh?"

He turns to her while pouting. "You said that when you can make others fly I would be your first flyer. Why did the shark fly first?"

She blinks at him in shock. (He's jealous about a flying shark?) She recovers and gives him a soft smile. "I'm sorry Luffy. I was in a panic about making sure the shark didn't get away. If it will make you feel better I can make you my first human flyer now."

Luffy immediately recovers. "REALLY?! LET'S DO IT!"

"Great! But we should get someone to watch in case something happens."

"ZORO! COME OVER HERE!" Luffy calls out wanting to fly as soon as possible.

"What do you want?" Zoro says as he approaches the pair.

Rose looks at him nervously. "Hey Zoro... Luffy wants to go flying. Can you watch us in case I accidentally drop him please?"

"Fine."

She sweat drops at the attitude. (At least he doesn't want to kill me now…) "Alright, ready Luffy?"

"LET'S GO!"

(Alright, here goes…) She focuses on summoning her wind remembering how she made the shark go flying and sooner than they knew it Luffy's feet started to lift off the ground as he ascended into the air.

"AWESOME! CAN YOU BRING ME OVER TO THE TREES?!" Luffy yelled with excitement.

"SURE, WATCH YOUR HAT!"

She brings Luffy over to Namis tangerine trees and he stretches his arm to eat a few of them when he sees Nami below him preparing her Clima-tact for a Thunder Tempo.

"Luffy… HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO TELL YOU TO STOP EATING MY TANGERINES?!" She yells as she finishes preparing her attack.

Luffy panics and grabs onto the mast to pull a Gum Gum Rocket shooting him out of the Thunder Tempo's reach but it shoots him too far causing him to head towards the water.

"AAAHH! HANG ON LUFFY!" Rose hurriedly catches Luffy with a new gust of wind before he reaches the water and lands him with her and Zoro.

"Phew, that was close" Luffy says sighing with relief.

"You got that right. I'm just glad my wind caught you. Wait a minute…" Rose remembers Luffy's stupid stunt and hits him on the head. "WHY DID YOU DO THAT TO AVOID HER LIGHTNING ATTACK?! YOU'RE MADE OF RUBBER!"

"IT WOULD STILL STING!"

"THINK BEFORE YOU ACT IDIOT!" Zoro says as he whacks Luffy's head too.

"Right, my bad…" Luffy apologizes as Nami runs over to them and gives Luffy, Zoro, and Rose a whack to the head.

"WHY DID I GET HIT?!" Rose and Zoro ask simultaneously.

Nami points her Clima-tact to Rose and replies "YOU WERE AN ACCOMPLICE BY GETTING HIM TO FLY! AND YOU ZORO WERE WATCHING THEM AND DIDN'T STOP THEM!"

Rose bows her head. "I'm sorry…"

"Geez, just don't let it happen again. I'm going to bed."

"I'm gonna head to bed too. Today was annoying." Zoro says while walking away annoyed at what just happened.

"Uh Zoro!"

Zoro turns around a bit surprised that Rose called out to him and gave him a small wave and a sheepish grin. "I hope there are no hard feelings from this morning… Since we're nakama now, let's be friends."

Zoro quirks an eyebrow then turns away and starts to leave. "Whatever, just don't betray the crew and you won't get hurt."

Zoro went back inside while Luffy walked over to Rose. "Don't worry about him he's always like that. Here, this is thanks for the flying trips." He flashes a big grin as he hands Rose one of the tangerines he took.

"Thanks Luffy, I'll see you tomorrow. Good night." She shows Luffy an appreciative smile as she heads to bed and eats the tangerine. (This has been the most fun day ever! I wonder what the first island would be like.)

With the first day as a Straw Hat drawn to a close Rose goes to bed with complete excitement about what the next day would bring.

TO BE CONTINUED


	3. Chapter 3

As the next few days passed on the Grand Line the crew had gotten used to Rose. It had started to become a daily routine with the guys training her on her powers, relaxing with the girls while enjoying Sanji's drinks, helping out with cleaning in the kitchen, and even Zoro stopped acting suspicious around her.

Right now the crew just spotted the next island when the sea monkeys created a giant wave heading towards the crew.

"OH SHIT!" Rose yelled as the giant wave heads towards them.

"EVERYONE GET INTO POSITION! CHOPPER STEER THE SHIP!" Nami yells out.

"OK!"

Nami turns to the guys "MEN, RELEASE THE SAILS!"

"RIGHT!"

"YES NAMI-SWAAN" Sanji says with hearts in his eyes.

Nami turns to Rose. "ROSE, I NEED YOU TO BLAST WIND INTO THE SAIL TO GET US AWAY FROM THE WAVE!"

"GOT IT! WAIT, WHAT?!" (I haven't gotten used to wind blasts yet!)

"IT'S THE BEST WAY TO GET US AWAY FROM THAT WAVE!"

"Alright, I'll try..." Rose flies up to the back of the sails, and releases her wind forcing the ship to move out of danger from the wave as they watch the ship next to them bicker.

"WAAAH! A WAVE IS COMING AT US! WHERE'S THE NAVIGATOR?!" Manny yelled with worry.

"WE DON'T HAVE A NAVIGATOR!" Two other pirates Pete & Tony deadpanned.

"LOOK! THERE IS A SHIP NEXT TO US LET'S LOOT IT!" Tony exclaimed.

"NO! WE GOTTA GET OUT OF THE WAY FIRST!" Pete yelled as he hits Tony in the head.

"WHERE'S THE CAPTAIN? HE SHOULD DECIDE!" Manny yells.

"OUR CAPTAIN IS GONE TOO!" Tony & Pete yell.

"What's going on with that ship? HEY GUYS GET AWAY FROM THE WAVE!" Usopp yells.

"HE'S RIGHT RELEASE THE SAIL!" Manny yells.

"OUR SAIL IS GONE TOO!" Pete yells as the wave closes in on them.

"WAAAAAAH!" the wave that the sea monkeys created crashed onto the unorganized ship and buries them at sea. With the sea monkeys satisfied of causing mischief they went home.

"What happened to them? They seemed confused." Nami says.

"I'm not sure, it looked as though the crew was split in half." Chopper says

(It seems like the next arc is about to start. I know we're not at Water 7 yet, so which one is this?) Rose lands back onto the deck while Sanji love tornadoes over to her with a drink.

"That was wonderful Rose-chwan! You really brought us out of harm's way!"

"Thank you Sanji" Rose happily takes the drink then turns to Robin. "Thanks again for suggesting the training Robin. It's really helping me get my power under control."

Robin nods with a smile. "My pleasure. I can see the Island coming up ahead."

"YAHOO! CAN'T WAIT TO SEE THE ISLAND!" Luffy yells with excitement until we reach the Island which shows an empty plain. "THERE'S NOTHING HERE!" Luffy yells in disappointment.

"I wonder if there are any inhabitants on this island." Robin says as Rose, Luffy, Usopp, and Chopper jump off the ship.

"WE'RE GONNA GO CHECK IT OUT!" Rose yells as the four of them start heading out.

"ROSE! MAKE SURE THEY DON'T DO ANYTHING STUPID!" Nami yells as they depart with Rose responding with a thumb's up.

* * *

As the four of them explore the island they are amazed at how long everything is the animals, the trees, even the fruit was long.

"LUFFY! DON'T EAT THAT FRUIT, IT COULD BE POISONOUS!" Usopp yells as Luffy grabs some of the fruit from the tree.

"Relax Usopp, a long fruit is still fruit" Rose says as she takes a bite of a long apple.

"Hey guys look! There's a house over there!" Chopper says causing the others to look at the small hut in the middle of the plain.

"Let's check it out." Luffy says as he finishes his apple and walks over and barges in. "HELLO! ANYONE HERE?!"

"Luffy, don't go barging in! What if it's an evil boss' hideout?" Usopp says as he cautiously walks into the hut while Rose and Chopper stay outside.

"WOW! A GIRAFFE!" Chopper exclaims while looking at a long horse that's walking up to them.

"That's not a giraffe Chopper. It's a horse with a really long neck right girl?" Rose says while petting the horse.

The horse whinnies in response.

"She says 'Yes. My name is Shelly it's nice to meet you'." Chopper translates.

"The pleasure's all mine." Rose responds as Luffy and Usopp head outside to find two long bamboo poles.

"Wow even the bamboo is long here." Usopp says as he and Luffy approach it.

(Bamboo? Wait wasn't this when…?) Rose approaches the bamboo along with the others.

"WOW! I CAN'T EVEN SEE THE TOP!" Luffy says when the bamboo starts to move scaring Luffy and Usopp and causing Luffy to break the bamboo.

(Oh Crap! I remember now!) Rose catches Tonjiit with her wind before he can hit the ground.

"What happened?" Chopper asks as he and Shelly approach them.

"Rose caught the spirit that was living in the bamboo." Luffy says.

"He's not a spirit you moron… Are you alright?" Rose asks to Tonjiit.

"Oh. It's been a long time. How are you?" Tonjiit asks the group.

Rose turns to the guys. "Do you guys know him?"

"No." the boys respond.

"I don't know you either." Tonjiit says.

"THEN WHY DID YOU ACT LIKE YOU DID?!" Usopp yells.

"My name is Tonjiit. Thank you for getting me down from those stilts."

"Those were stilts?" Usopp asks.

"Yes. I finally managed to make the world's tallest stilts, but when I got on them I was so terrified I couldn't get down for 10 years…"

"Are you stupid?!" Luffy asks.

Shelly whinnies in happiness.

"She says 'I'm so glad to see you again Tonjiit.'" Chopper translates.

"SHELLY! You waited all this time?! I'm so happy to see you again thank you for waiting. Let's go for a ride!"

Shelly whinnies in agreement and the two go for a ride as the others watch them.

"I can't believe she waited 10 years for him." Rose says with a soft smile.

"Yea, it must have been lonely. I'm glad they're together." Chopper says.

"GO SHELLY!" Usopp and Luffy cheered as they see the horse run around.

(Wait… there was a trigger to this arc something involving these two… Ugh if I can only remember the name of this arc. Wait, that's it! Oh crap!) Rose realizes that she's in the Davy Back Fight arc and turns around to see Foxy, Porche and Hamburg fire their gun at Shelly. (Damnit!) Rose flies in front of the bullet that was shot to try and stop it with her wind, but it didn't work again and she accidentally activated her Logia abilities causing it to go through her and hit Shelly.

"SHELLY!" everyone yelled as Usopp, and Chopper head over to find the bullet got in her leg.

Rose watches the horse in frustration (Shit! Of all the times for my powers to not be in control now was not a good time!)

"Fehfehfehfeh! Nice try stopping the bullet girl, but the great Foxy got his catch" Foxy says triumphantly as walks to the group.

"SHUT UP YOU STUPID SPLIT HEAD FOX!" Rose yelled out in fury making Foxy slump in depression with Porche trying to make him feel better while Hamburg chuckles.

"WHO THE HELL ARE YOU GUYS?" Luffy yells furious about what just happened.

"Surely you know Captain Foxy of the Silver Fox Pirates." Foxy says with a proud face.

"No I don't." Luffy responds causing Foxy to slump down again.

Luffy being furious of the situation starts getting ready for a Gum Gum Whip.

"Not so fast Luffy!" Foxy says raising a hand to stop him.

"How do you know my name?"

"Unlike you we do our homework: Monkey D. Luffy 100 million beli bounty with Zoro's bounty it's a total of 160 million beli for the entire crew. For 7 crew members that's impressive or should I say 8 now. Who might you be?" Porche asks Rose.

"My name is none of your business." Rose retorts.

"My, she's a feisty one. Now then Luffy I will only fight you if you agree to go against me in a Davy Back Fight!" Foxy says.

(Shit!) "Luffy wait! Do-."

"IF YOU WANT A FIGHT? BRING IT ON! I won't let you bastards get away with hurting Shelly." Luffy cuts her off.

"LUFFY, DON'T! WE COULD LOSE OUR FRIENDS!" Usopp yells but it was too late.

* * *

"A Davy Back Fight is ridiculous!" Nami says to the foxy pirates who have the Merry trapped.

"It doesn't matter what you think missy! Once the captains shoot their guns at the same time there is no going back." One of the Foxy Pirates responds.

"We have an unwritten contract with the captain to follow him, so whatever happens there's no going back." Sanji says while puffing out a smoke from his cigarette.

"For once I agree. I'm looking forward to the challenge." Zoro says as he grins in excitement.

"There's no use arguing Nami. You know how men are." Robin says with a grin with some excitement in her eyes.

(I hope Rose is able to stop this from happening.) Nami thinks when all of a sudden the gun shots were heard.

The Foxy pirates started cheering declaring that the Davy Back Fight has begun to the excitement of everyone but Nami.

* * *

"So only seven can play and the game consists of a race of three, a ball game of three and combat round for one person." Robin says as she reads off the list of events for the game.

"I thought I told you to make sure he didn't do anything stupid!" Nami says whacking Rose in the head.

"I'm sorry, but I promise things will work out." Rose says cradling the bump on her head.

"I hope so, otherwise we're going to lose our friends…" Nami says with worry then adding "Especially since I'm probably going to get taken because of my cuteness."

Rose sweat drops at the comment. (You're safe there… So this is the Davy Back Fight arc. I wish I remembered that sooner… Now's not the time to cry over spilled milk! Now that I know where I am maybe I can help us win without losing Chopper at all.)

"Alright, so who should play in the race? Just a reminder I'm deathly allergic to racing so you should count me out." Usopp says.

"I think Usopp should go into the race." Rose says.

"WHY ME?!" Usopp yells out scared.

"I think we're going to have to make a boat for this race and since you have the best carpenter skills on the crew you're perfect." Rose says with a smile.

"LEAVE IT TO ME! I, CAPTAIN USOPP WILL MAKE A GREAT BOAT!" Usopp says with pride.

"I should go too in order to navigate." Nami says and the crew agrees.

"I think Rose should participate in the race as well." Robin says with a smile.

"EH?! Wait, shouldn't you go?" Rose says.

"Don't worry, your powers will be useful and if the boat sinks you have two people to make sure you don't drown." Robin says without changing her expression.

(That doesn't make me feel better… But I can't argue with her logic) "I-I'll do my best!"

"Alright the teams for the first round are Rose, Nami and Chopper. For Round 2: Zoro, Sanji and Chopper. Finally for the combat round is Monkey D. Luffy. Here are the rules of the Donut Race! Each team will be given material of three barrels and two oars and build a raft to race around the island!" Itomimizu announces to the crowd.

"Wow, good call on the boat building Rose. How did you know?" Usopp asks with curiosity.

"That's not important right now. We should make a boat quick." Rose says building the boat and avoiding the subject.

"WAIT! DON'T IGNORE THE QUESTION!" Usopp yells.

"ALRIGHT! ALRIGHT! Let's get this race under way your favorite announcer Itomimizu will be watching over the race up in the sky. We have from the Straw Hats 'The Barrel Tiger' and from the Foxy Pirates 'The Cutie Wagon'!" Itomimizu announces as he takes to the sky on his bird.

"WHY DO YOU HAVE A SHARK?!" Nami says as she sees Porche' boat with her shark in front.

"The rules don't say anything about having a shark haha." Porche says.

"Nami-swan, Rose-chwan do your best out there!" Sanji says with hearts in his eyes.

"Kick their ass guys!" Luffy cheers.

"Sink them Porche" The Foxy pirates cheer.

"The rules are the first ones to go around the island wins. Anything is allowed including sinking the opponent. If you don't like it you shouldn't be called a pirate!" Itomimizu says.

"Man this is getting heated. LET'S START ALREADY!" Nami yells.

"I hope you're ready to sink." Porche says with a giggle

"The only one who is going to go down is you." Rose says with determination.

"ONE MORE THING BEFORE WE START! HERE IS AN ETERNAL POSE OF THE ISLAND IN CASE YOU GET LOST!" Itomimizu says as he drops the eternal poses to each team.

"Why would we need this?" Nami says as she catches the eternal pose

(Crap! How could I forget?) "Usopp! We need to position the boat so we are ready to get off the coast line quick before it starts!" Rose says in realization of what's going on and paddles to the right position to avoid it.

"What are you talking about Rose?!" Nami asks

"No, she's right. The other boat is doing the same thing." Usopp says as he helps Rose to paddle.

"What are you both talking about?" Nami asks again irritated of not getting answered.

"ON YOUR MARKS. GET SET. GO!"

"Come on, we gotta paddle quick!" Rose says as she and Usopp try to get to the outer coast.

"JUST TELL ME WHY ALREADY?!" Nami yells losing her patience

"THAT'S WHY!" Rose points out to the audience who are opening fire at the boat.

"Come on, we gotta sink them!" One of the Foxy pirates says as they shoot cannons at the boat.

"Crap… We still didn't get far enough! WAAH!" Rose screams as cannons fire close to her.

"THE AUDIENCE SHOULDN'T BE ATTACKING!" Usopp yells.

"GUYS WE GOTTA PADDLE! LOOK OUT!" Nami yells as a giant boulder heads towards them.

(Come on wind, work with me here.) Rose focuses on blowing the rock away from them manages to stop it from hitting them. "Man, I'm glad that worked."

"TAKE THIS ASSHOLES! How dare you try to harm Rose-chan and Nami-san! I'LL GUT YOU LIKE A FISH AND FRY YOU!" Sanji yells as he kicks the guys that were shooting at the boat.

"TAKE THIS JERKS! GUM GUM WHIP!" Luffy yells as he joins Sanji in beating up the audience that was interfering.

"I think we're safe for now, but we gotta catch up with them. Rose, can you try using your wind again?" Nami asks.

"I'll try it. But, if it doesn't work then Usopp should prepare his impact dial."

"How did you know about that?! I mean, what impact dial?"

"Too late Usopp." Nami says causing Usopp to sweat drop as Rose faces the back of the boat

(Come on wind I don't want to lose here.) "LET'S GO!" Rose yells as her wind blasts in front of her causing the boat to go full speed catching up to Porche.

"Whoa! The freckled chick's a devil fruit user!" one of the foxy pirates says in shock.

"Wow! she's controlling the wind! She's A logia user!" Another foxy pirate says.

"WHAT HAVE WE HERE?! SEEMS LIKE THE MYSTERIOUS ROSE ATE THE WIND DEVIL FRUIT! WHAT AN AMAZING ABILITY! THE BARREL TIGER IS NOW CATCHING UP TO THE CUTIE WAGON!" Itomimizu says as he flies above

"I'm not letting you stay in the race… Sea Splitter!" Capote says as he attacks the boat!

"Take this! Blasting Star!" Usopp says as Capote shakes it off as nothing.

"HA! That almost tickles." Capote says with a cocky grin.

"Take this asshole!" Rose says as she makes the fish man fly and flips him hitting his head on the deck of his boat and knocking him out.

"Capote no! You'll pay for that brat. Flower Shuriken!" Porche says as she tosses shuriken over to Rose's boat.

"Wind Barrier!" Rose says as a wind barrier protects the boat from the shuriken.

"No Way!" Porche says in shock.

"That was great Rose! Can you go use your wind again?" Nami asks with a scamming grin.

"I CAN'T DO IT ALL THE TIME! WE STILL GOTTA PADDLE!" (I can't believe that barrier worked though! I love this power!)

"They still got a lead on us. There's got to be a way to distract them." Nami says.

"I got an idea. Usopp, I need you to get Capote to look this way." Rose says.

"Alright, Usopp Blasting Star!" Usopp blasts another shot at Capote causing him to turn around irritated.

"I told you that won't leave a scratch on me." Capote says.

"No it won't, but it got you distracted long enough to not notice Porche flying!" Rose says as she grins and points to Porche.

"Capote! Help!" Porche says as she's sent flying off the boat and into the water.

"Porche! You bitch!" Capote says as he is about to use another fish man karate move but Rose stops him in time when she sends him flying into the water too.

"That should take care of them for a while." Rose says as they pass the Cutie Wagon.

"Way to go Rose!" Nami says.

"UNBELIEVABLE! ROSE SENT BOTH PASSENGERS OF THE CUTIE WAGON INTO THE WATER! IS THERE ANYTHING SHE WON'T DO TO WIN?!"

"SHUT UP YOU NO CHINNED WEIRDO BEFORE I BLAST YOU OUT OF THE SKY!" Rose yells in fury.

"GUYS! WE'RE NOT OUT OF THE WOODS YET! LOOK!" Usopp yells as the teams approach the long coral reef with giant whirlpools following behind.

"Give me a second I'll choose the path." Nami says as she calculates which path to take. "ALRIGHT, TAKE THAT PATH!"

Rose and Usopp paddle in the direction she pointed to and got on the path where the currents are carrying them through the reef with ease.

"Awesome! We don't even need to paddle." Usopp says

"Yup, since the whirlpools are creating currents in the maze all we had to do was choose the right path in this maze and getting out is simple." Nami says.

"WHOA!" Porche yells as her boat chose the wrong path leading her to the start of the reef.

"AWESOME! WE CAN WIN!" Usopp yells in excitement.

"I wouldn't celebrate just yet we have the giant whirlpools to deal with… We should use the impact dial now." Rose says turning to nervous Usopp.

"No way! if I use that I could break my shoulder!" Usopp says.

"It's a risk I'm willing to take!" Nami says.

"THAT'S BECAUSE IT'S MY SHOULDER!"

"IMPACT DIAL!" Rose cheers to Usopp.

"NOT YOU TOO! Fine, I'll do it" Usopp says as he takes out the dial. "Alright, here goes…" He attaches the impact dial to his hand and blasts the water causing the boat to go out of the water and into the air.

"I'm going to make us fly for a bit so that we don't need to worry about the audience." Rose says as she focuses her wind to go under the boat making it fly.

"WAIT! WHY DIDN'T WE USE YOUR WIND IN THE FIRST PLACE?!" Usopp yells as agonizes from the pain of using the impact dial.

"It would have been risky since I don't know if I can pluck a boat from the ocean! Besides, even though I got flying down I can't say I'm a master of my devil fruit like Robin, so I would rather not take the risk. The impact dial was the best option."

"That doesn't matter now! Keep it up before Porche comes back." Nami says.

Rose nods and focuses on her wind.

"AMAZING! ROSE HAS NOW USED HER WIND TO MAKE THE BOAT FLY AND IS CREATING AN ENORMOUS GAP BETWEEN THEM AND PORCHE. THIS IS NOT AGAINST THE RULES AS LONG AS IT DOES NOT LAND ON THE GROUND OR SINK!" Itomimizu yells as he is flying above the crew when suddenly Roses boat lands on the water and she collapses.

"Rose! are you Ok?" Usopp asks.

"Yea, I'm fine I used my power too much. I can keep paddling though." Rose replies with a reassuring grin as she helps to paddle. (Things are looking good. How exactly did they lose in the manga again? Wait, OH SHIT!) Rose realizes what Foxy is going to do and tries to paddle as quickly as possible.

"Take it easy Rose, I know you want to win but we have a good advantage. You don't have to push yourself. The goal is up ahead." Nami says as she points to the goal.

"You don't understand! Foxy is gonna-"

"FEHFEHFEHFEH! That's as far you go Straw Hats!" Foxy cuts Rose off as he rides on Hamburg aiming his slow slow beam at them.

(Crap!) Rose tries to make him fly which gets him to miss the first shot but had to put him down immediately because she used too much of it.

"FehFehfeh! Nice try dear but too bad you're out of juice!" Foxy says as he points his slow slow beam at the trio again hitting them and causing Porche to go past them winning the race.

* * *

"What happened?" Nami asks completely pissed that she lost.

"I ate the slow slow fruit which gives me the ability to shoot slow slow beams like this." Foxy demonstrates his slow slow beam with a cannon ball shot by Hamburg hurdling towards him and slows it down right next to him.

"That's a cheap trick two piece head!" Luffy insults Foxy causing him to slump in depression again.

"You agreed to the game so now you have to pa-" Foxy was cut off as the cannon ball went back to full speed and blasted him across the field.

"Great now we have to lose one of our crew members… I'm sure they're gonna take Captain Usopp." Usopp says completely depressed.

"Don't worry, no matter who is taken we're going to just have to get him back in the next round." Rose pats him on the shoulder to cheer him up as Robin approaches her.

"You seem to know a lot about the race and about Fox-"

"Alright, time for the choosing round! We should get going!" Rose cuts off Robin before she can finish her question and hurries to the others heading to choosing round. (I better be more careful around Robin from now on. She's starting to get suspicious…)

"TIME FOR EVERYONE'S FAVORITE ROUND THE DECIDING ROUND FOR WHO WILL JOIN THE FOXY PIRATES!" Itomimizu announces with everyone cheering as Foxy takes center stage to decide his new crew member.

"You fought well Straw Hats, but you were no match for me. Fehfehfehfeh!"

(Chopper, I'm sorry…) Rose clenches her fists in frustration.

"Now it's time to lose a member and I choose… YOU! ROSE!" Foxy says as he points to Rose.

"Wait… WHAT?!" Rose is completely dumbfounded as she is dragged onto the stage. (I did not see this coming... Better me than Chopper but...) She starts to grimace at her situation.

"ROSE! NO!" Usopp yells.

"It makes sense. Logia devil fruit users are very rare. They might want to use her in their army." Nami says.

"Maybe even the ship's engine." Robin says.

"Don't say that Robin! I don't want to lose her." Chopper says as tears started to come out and Nami hugs him in comfort.

"ROSE-CHAN!" Sanji cries with comical tears while Luffy and Zoro frown at the situation.

"Welcome to the Foxy Pirates Rose. I'm sure your devil fruit ability will do wonders for us. Now you have to pledge your allegiance to us." Foxy says as he places a mask on her face.

"…Yes captain… RRAGH! LUFFY, ZORO, SANJI, CHOPPER!" Rose suddenly outbursts and stands up.

The four mentioned look at her with surprise.

(I don't want to leave, but as a pirate I got no choice... I know that they are going to win so I just have wait and let them know I believe in them.) A grin starts to form on Roses face while fighting back the tears. "IN THE NEXT ROUNDS YOU GUYS DO YOUR BEST! I KNOW YOU CAN WIN! IN THE MEAN TIME YOU FOXY ASSHOLES BETTER DO YOUR WORST!" The crowd starts to cheer for her determination.

"This girl is tough as nails! Great choice Captain!" One of the pirates says.

"She's super cute too, along with that power she's awesome!" Another pirate says.

"DON'T WORRY ROSE-CHAN! WE'RE GONNA GET YOU BACK NO MATTER WHAT!" Sanji yells.

"The girl's got more guts than I gave her credit for. The next match will be fun." Zoro says with a devilish grin.

"DON'T WORRY ROSE! WE WON'T GIVE UP TILL YOU'RE BACK!" Chopper yells .

"JUST SIT TIGHT ROSE! YOU'RE GONNA BE BACK WITH US SOON!" Luffy yells with determination while the rest of the crew grins with pride for how Rose is taking it.

* * *

While the rest of the Foxy Pirates are preparing for the second event Porche and Foxy talk in private.

"Why did you take that wind brat boss? You saw how vicious she is… The little reindeer would have been so nice..." Porche says with a pout.

"The reindeer was going to be my first choice but after seeing the girl perform, I can see that she knows more than she's telling about the Davy Back Fights and me. She is too dangerous to be left alone and this way we don't have to worry about her talking about my weaknesses and we can win the fight no problem! Fehfehfehfeh!"

"That's brilliant boss! Then can we have the reindeer?"

"Of course! Fehfehfehfeh! Time for the real game to begin!"

TO BE CONTINUED


	4. Chapter 4

The second round of the Davy Back fight is heading under way Zoro, Sanji and Chopper are now heading to the field and the Straw Hats are now listening to the rules of the game.

"ALRIGHT EVERYONE! IT'S TIME FOR THE FAMOUS GROGGY RING! HERE ARE THE RULES! IN THE COURT THERE ARE TWO GOALS ON EACH SIDE AND YOU WIN BY THROWING YOUR BALL INTO THE ENEMY'S GOAL! HOWEVER, THIS IS NO ORDINARY BALL YOU WILL USE A PERSON FROM YOUR TEAM TO BE THE BALL! ONCE EACH TEAM DECIDES WE WILL LET THE GAMES BEGIN!" Itomimizu announces up in the sky.

"TEAM STRAW HAT IS THE VIOLENT SANJI! THE SWORDSMAN ZORO! AND THE RACCOON DOG CHOPPER!" Itomimizu announces.

"I'M A REINDEER!" Chopper yelled in fury.

"THE TEAM TO FACE OFF AGAINST THE STRAW HATS ARE OUR VERY OWN GROGGY MONSTERS! OUR MAN HAMBURG, OUR VERY OWN TACKLE DEMON PICKLES, AND AS OUR BALL THE HALF GIANT HALF FISH MAN WANTON!" Itomimizu announces as the crowd goes crazy for their team while the Straw Hats stare at it in disbelief.

"WOW! THAT FISH MAN IS HUGE!" Luffy yells in excitement as he looks at the team.

"HOW ARE THEY GOING TO PUT THAT GIANT INTO THE RING?!" Usopp yells.

"I knew the fish man was huge, but this is nuts…" Rose mutters as she stares at Wanton with wide eyes.

"Who should be the ball?" Chopper asks while Zoro points to Sanji and the referee places the ball onto his head.

"Why am I the ball moss head?! I don't want to look bad when I save Rose you should do it!" Sanji yells in argument.

"No way swirly brow! That looks pretty good on you." Zoro says.

"Shut up, Jerk!" Sanji says as they got into a sword and leg clash.

"NO WEAPONS ALLOWED!" The referee yells to Zoro as he stumbles to catch the three swords that were tossed to him.

"Fine by me, let's get this started." Zoro says as he smirks in excitement.

"Are you sure marimo? A swordsman without his swords is pretty useless with that case you should be the ball." Sanji says causing them to get into another fight.

"START ACTING LIKE A TEAM! WE NEED TO GET ROSE BACK!" Usopp yells worried if they can pull it off.

"SANJI! THE BALL LOOKS GOOD ON YOU!" Nami yells annoyed about the arguing.

"I will be the ball!" Sanji says with a complete 180 degree turn in his attitude.

"She's right, you look like a prince… Of idiots" Zoro says causing them to go into another clash.

Chopper gets annoyed with his teammates so he goes into Heavy Point and punches them in the head. "DON'T FIGHT HERE! WE HAVE TO WORK TOGETHER TO GET ROSE BACK!"

"Heh. All that matters is getting Rose back. All we have to do is get the giant fish's head in the ring right? I'll get it done in no time." Sanji says as he puffs a smoke.

"If you are Roses only hope then she's doomed. I'll take care of it" Zoro says as the two glare at one another.

(They didn't listen to a word I said… Hang on Rose we'll get you back.) Chopper thinks as he get gets to center field with the others.

* * *

"Man they really don't know what team work is…" Rose mutters as she watches Zoro and Sanji fight. (I know that the crew won with Zoro and Sanji but with Chopper in the mix I hope they can still manage…) Rose starts to worry as Porche approaches her.

"Hi there Rosie!" Porche says with a big smile

(She's up to something…) Rose raises an eyebrow as she gets up to face Porche "Hi there Porche what's up?"

"I just want to say no hard feelings for dunking me in the water." (And messing up my makeup) Porche extends her hand for Rose to shake.

(I think I know where this is going…) "No hard feelings I hope we can be friends" Rose extends her hand and grabs onto Porche's hand.

Porche's eyes then glint in mischief as she is about to flip her but Rose was faster than Porche and managed to flip her over her shoulder first. "IF YOU THINK I WOULD FALL FOR THAT CRAP THEN YOU'RE EVEN MORE STUPID THAN YOUR CAPTAIN!" Rose yells as she throws Porche to the ground.

"OW! DON'T DISRESPECT OUR CAPTAIN YOU LITTLE BRAT!"

"He's not going to be my captain for long my friends are going to win."

"That's what you think! I can't wait to see them smashed into pieces!"

"Like that's going to happen. My friends are strong they won't lose."

"HMPH! We'll have to see then won't we? As long as they don't hurt the cute reindeer I'm happy!"

"Chopper won't be yours!"

"LET'S DO THIS!" Chopper yells as he, Zoro and Sanji look at their enemies with determination

Rose looks at them and starts to smile. (I shouldn't worry they're my nakama after all. I need to believe in them.)

"WILL THE STRAW HATS BRING BACK THEIR LOST NAKAMA OR WILL THEY LOSE MORE OF THEIR CREW MATES? WE'RE ABOUT TO FIND OUT NOW LET THE GAME BEGIN!" With that Itomimizu shot a gun announcing the game has started.

"TIME TO LOSE!" Pickles yells as he makes the first move towards Sanji and tries to tackle him but Sanji jumps out of the way and jumps off of his back.

"OUT OF THE WAY! WE SAVE ROSE BY HITTING YOU INTO THE RING RIGHT?! THEN YOU'RE GOING DOWN!" Sanji yells to Wanton as he aims at him; however he gets on his arm and starts slipping on his skin.

"What the?" Sanji says as he tries to keep his balance on the giant fish man.

"SEEMS LIKE THE CHEF CANNOT KEEP HIS BALANCE ON WANTON! BUT THAT'S UNAVOIDABLE BECAUSE WANTON HAS MUD FISH GENES MAKING HIS SKIN EXTREMELY SLIPPERY."

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING IDIOT?!" Zoro yells.

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING AN IDIOT MOSS HEAD?!" Sanji retorts

"DON'T FIGHT NOW!" Chopper yells as he goes to help Sanji but Wanton punches Sanji, sending him flying to the other side of the field.

"SANJI!" the crew yelled as they watch their crew mate go flying.

"Damnit!" Rose gets tempted to use her ability to help and Porche catches that and goes in front of her wagging her finger.

"Nu-uh! I wouldn't do that! Outside interference leads to decapitation." Porche says with a smirk.

"I KNOW THAT!" Rose yells back as she pouts in her seat. (It doesn't mean I like watching my friends get hurt though…)

Zoro and Chopper run back to help Sanji but Pickles hits them both in a side tackle. Hamburg catches Sanji in the air and throws him into position for Pickles to catch him but Zoro and Chopper block Pickles only for him to hit them. Wanton brings Hamburg back up into the air and Hamburg grabs Sanji again. Zoro and Chopper recover and they grab Pickles and gets ready to throw him.

"We're not going to give up!" Chopper says as he and Zoro hurdle Pickles up into the air.

Sanji grabs onto Hamburg and gets into position "Those two stole my moment to impress Rose, but I'm not going to lose!" Sanji kicks Hamburg into Pickles knocking them both out and leaving the Foxy pirates in a state of shock as the crew cheers.

"UNBELIEVABLE! THE STRAW HAT PIRATES ARE STILL IN THE GAME AND THEY KNOCKED OUT TWO OF THE GROGGY MONSTERS!" Itomimizu announces with complete shock in his face.

"Like I needed your help marimo!" Sanji says in annoyance.

"Not like I was helping you for your sake love cook!"

"Guys! While they're knocked out let's take care of the fish man!" Chopper says in frustration.

They nod and run to face off against Wanton.

"YOU BETTER NOT LOSE HAMBURG!" Porche yells out.

"HA! Where's that confidence that they'll 'smash them to pieces' Porche?" Rose says with a confident smirk. (Keep it up guys, you're doing great!)

"Just you wait! They haven't used their strongest attack!"

"Yup! We'll see." (Hehe! She must mean the Monster Burger. I'm excited to see them work together.)

"WAAH!" Rose is snapped out of her thoughts and sees the team run away from Wanton.

"WHY ARE YOU RUNNING AWAY?! HE'S THE BALL!" Usopp yells as he's watching the scene

"OPEN YOUR EYES! HE HAS KNIVES UNDER HIS SHOES!" Zoro yells to them.

"HEY REF, YOU SAID WEAPONS AREN'T ALLOWED!" Sanji yells out to him.

"I don't see anything." The referee says as he looks away.

"FEHFEHFEH! If he can't see it he can't go against it!" Foxy laughs in triumph.

"YOU ASSHOLE!" Sanji kicks the referee to the ground.

"Yellow card on Sanji!" the referee says as he flashes a yellow card and whistles. Sanji goes to kick him again but Chopper holds him back.

"SANJI! CALM DOWN GETTING YOURSELF KICKED OUT WON'T SAVE ROSE!"

"Right." Sanji nods in agreement as they turn around to see Wanton use an axe against Zoro.

"WHAT THE HELL?!" Zoro yells as he runs away from Wanton.

"LOOK REF! HE'S USING AN AXE!" Chopper yells to the ref but he looks away and denies seeing it causing him to get mad now and Usopp having to hold him back.

"LISTEN TO YOUR OWN ADVICE! We can't save Rose if you're disqualified!" Usopp says calming Chopper down.

"I'LL DO IT THEN!" Luffy yells as he reads over but Nami stops him "HE'S NOT WORTH IT!"

(That ref is really pissing me off!) Rose does everything to hold herself back from beating up the referee.

"SANJI, CHOPPER GET BACK IN THE GAME AND DON'T LOSE!" Nami yells .

"YES NAMI-SWAN!" Sanji swoons as he and Chopper go back to the game and continued being chased by Wanton.

The three of them turn around to face Wanton and rush to take him down. Wanton slides down to the ground and turns his body into a loop causing the three of them to be caught in a slippery loop.

"I'M GETTING DIZZY!" Chopper says as the three of them struggle to get out of the loop. While the chaos was continuing Pickles and Hamburg get back up with spiked pads and iron gloves.

"REF! THAT HAS TO BE ILLEGAL!" Rose yells as she stands up to see the referee not paying attention to the competition at all.

Wanton launches the three crew members into the air all of them completely dizzy from the loop.

Hamburg jumps up into the air and slams Zoro into the ground.

"ZORO!" The crew shouts as they watch Wanton slam Hamburg into ground punching Zoro with his iron gloves.

"STOP THIS YOU STUPID REF!" Rose yells as she starts to head over to the referee but some of the foxy pirates hold her back and place her back onto the chair.

"LET ME GO YOU ASSHOLES!" Rose pushes them back with her wind but they still block her path.

"Remember that you're one of us now! We'd rather not have to punish you for treason!" One of the pirates says as Porche chuckles at her reaction.

"My! Aren't we getting angry? What happened to 'my friends are strong they won't lose!'" Porche says as Rose sneers at her.

(I've always hated this arc… Hang on guys!) Rose grits her teeth as she watches Wanton shoots Pickles at Sanji and Chopper sending them flying and having Wanton and Hamburg slam them into the ground.

"So cruel…" Nami says as she and the others watch in horror at their crew mates getting hurt.

"GROGGY! GROGGY!" The foxy pirates cheer for their team to finish the game.

"LOOKS THE MATCH HAS ENDED WITH THE GROGGY MONSTERS UNDEFEATED! THEY PUT UP A GOOD FIGHT BUT NOTHING COULD PREVENT THEIR DEFEAT! NOW ALL THAT'S LEFT IS TO PLACE THE BALL IN THE RING!" Itomimizu announces as he flies over the field.

"Chopper, love cook, help me out for ten seconds." Zoro says with a pissed off expression.

"Sounds like the right amount of time" Sanji agrees.

"Let's do this." Chopper says as the three of them start to get up.

"WHAT ENDURANCE! THE STRAW HATS HAVE GOTTEN BACK UP! THIS IS GETTING MORE AND MORE INTERESTING!" Itomimizu announces in shock as the rest of the Foxy crew stares in disbelief.

"KICK THEIR ASSES GUYS!" Luffy cheers as the crew sigh in relief and cheer for their team.

"Hehe. Looks like it's our win after all." Rose says with a grin of pride for her friends.

"WH-WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?! THEY CAN BARELY STAND! IT WILL ONLY END IN A BIT!" Porche yells in anger about Roses cockiness.

"There's one thing you should know about me and my nakama. When one of us is in danger we stop at nothing to help them. So, even when they're injured like this they always pull something out of their sleeve to come out on top." Rose says with a prideful grin while Porche fumes about the situation.

"GIVE ME A MONSTER BURGER!" Foxy yells in frustration that the Straw Hats are still standing which causes his crew to become completely shocked.

"What's with their reactions?" Robin asks as she and the rest of the crew look at the audience.

Her question gets answered as the Hamburg pulls out a pair of clubs, Pickles pulls out two swords, and Wanton brings out two large pans.

"THIS IS RIDICULOUS THEY'RE JUST SHOWING OFF THEIR WEAPONS NOW!" Nami yells in anger.

"LOOKS LIKE THE GROGGY MONSTERS HAVE PREPARED THEIR ULTIMATE COMBO ATTACK THE MONSTER BURGER THEIR WEAPONS USUALLY CALL OUT ELIMINATION FROM THE GAME BUT LUCKILY THE REFEREE IS DOING EXERCISES SO HE CANNOT SEE!" Itomimizu announces as the referee is doing squats not looking at the field at all while Usopp is forced to hold Luffy back from hitting him.

Hamburg aims for Sanji but Sanji avoids the clubs. "TUNA JAM… ARM TIER SHOOT!" Sanji yells as he sends Hamburg flying into Wanton's pans and gets crushed.

Pickles gets furious at Sanji's attack as he aims his attack at him but Zoro blocks him "Sword-less style dragon… twister!" Zoro mutters as he dodges Pickles swords and sends him flying to Wanton causing him to slice up Wanton.

Wanton starts to fall back but Chopper goes behind him and jumps and give Wanton an upper cut to the back forcing him to stay standing. Zoro and Sanji rush to Pickles from both sides and Sanji kicks Pickles out of the field and lands on the referee.

"HAHAHA! TAKE THAT YOU CHEATING ASSHOLE!" Rose yells as she cheers for the crew.

"YOU DID THAT ON PURPOSE! WHERE ARE MY CARDS?!" The referee scrambles to find his card but Nami managed to swipe them from him.

"Missing something?" Nami says as she holds the missing cards while Robin chuckles at the gesture.

"Air Force Power Shoot!" Sanji shoots Zoro into the air as Chopper walks over to Sanji knowing full well that the match is over as Zoro grabs Wanton by the mouth and slams him into the ring.

Foxy and his crew stare in disbelief in what they saw but the Straw Hats cheer in celebration.

"THAT WAS AMAZING!" Usopp yells as he and Luffy dance in celebration.

"WHOOHOO THEY WON!" Luffy yells.

"WHOO! WAY TO GO GUYS! I KNEW YOU CAN DO IT!" Rose cheers with joy.

"NO! NOW I CAN'T GET THE CUTE REINDEER!" Porche yells in anger.

Nami returns the whistle to the disoriented referee who blows the whistle ending the game.

"IT'S OFFICIAL! THE GROGGY MONSTERS WERE DEFEATED! TEAM STRAW HAT IS VICTORIOUS!"

* * *

Everyone gathers around for the deciding round with everyone waiting for Luffy's decision as Itomimizu starts announcing. "IT'S TIME FOR THE DECIDING ROUND FOR THE STRAW HATS! WHO WILL THE CAPTAIN CHOOSE?!"

"It's obvious who I'm choosing." Luffy says as he looks to the foxy crew causing all of them to worry about if he is mentioning one of them.

"I choose…" Luffy stretches his arm to grab Roses arm whose eyes widen in shock as Luffy's arm pulls back with her "ROSE!"

"WAAH!" Rose yells as she is being pulled over to Luffy and held in an embrace.

"Th-thanks for getting me back Luffy" Rose says as she blushes in embarrassment of getting hugged.

"Like we'd leave our nakama behind. SHISHISHI!" Luffy laughs with his toothy grin not noticing her blush.

"ROSE! WE MISSED YOU!" Usopp and Chopper yells as they comically cry tears of joy as they run over and tackle Rose and Luffy causing a dog pile on Rose.

"HAHA! I missed you guys too!" Rose says with a wide grin (These guys are the best.)

"GET OFF OF ROSE-CHAN!" Sanji yells as he pries the trio off of her while Zoro walks over to them waiting to get treated by Chopper.

"Zoro, Sanji thank you both for rescuing me you both were pretty badass!" Rose says with a soft smile.

"No thanks is needed Rose-chan! Your prince will always be here to save you!" Sanji says with heart eyes.

"Don't mention it Rose. Just be careful when inflating the love cooks ego or he might go flying." Zoro says with a smirk earning him a kick from Sanji which starts another leg and sword clash.

(Man, was them working together an illusion?) Rose sighs as she heads over to Chopper and gives him some cotton candy. "Here you go Chopper. This is thanks for getting me back. You were awesome out there."

"Like your thanks is wanted stupid! I'm not happy at all!" Chopper says as he takes the cotton candy and gives her a big smile then goes to treat Sanji, Zoro and himself before the third round starts.

* * *

The third round is just about to head under way with the battle field placed at the ship of the Foxy Pirates. The Straw Hats take their seats in the audience waiting for Luffy and Usopp to come out.

"This is crazy…" Nami says in anxiety.

"I wouldn't worry, after all Luffy and fighting work well together right?" Rose replies as she eats a handful of popcorn.

"Yea but if we lose this one we can't get that crew mate back."

"I don't think it will be a problem right Rose?" Robin asks causing Rose to jolt.

"R-right…" (I wish I could read her mind to know what she's thinking. I hope she doesn't catch on about me…) Rose shifts in anxiety as the sky starts to fill with smoke.

"NOW IS TIME FOR THE THIRD ROUND TO GET UNDER WAY! WHAT A TREAT! THE TWO FIGHTERS WILL BE THE CAPTAINS OF THE CREWS ON THE LEFT WE HAVE THE RETURNING CHAMPION FOXY!" Itomimizu announces as Foxy appears and the foxy pirates cheer at his arrival.

"TO THE RIGHT WE HAVE THE CAPTAIN WITH AN AMAZING 100 BELI BOUNTY. THE CAPTAIN WITH THE SMALL BUT MIGHTY CREW! MONKEY D. LUFFY!"

"YEAH!" Luffy wearing boxing gloves, no shirt, shorts and an amazing afro yelled as he revealed himself.

"Why can't he take this seriously?" Nami sighs in frustration.

"Why the afro?" Zoro says as he sweat drops.

"I think he looks fine." Robin says as she chuckles at the sight.

"SO COOL!" Chopper cheers.

"LOVE THE AFRO LUFFY!" Sanji cheers.

"WHOOHOO! AWESOME AFRO LUFFY!" Rose yells in excitement (Afro Luffy was the only good part of this arc. I'm so glad I get to see it!)

The foxy crew cheers on the awesome afro as they wait for the fight to begin.

"HERE ARE THE RULES OF THE COMBAT GAME! THE SHIP IS OUR BATTLEFIELD WHICH IS THE DECK AND EVERY ROOM UNDER IT ALONG WITH THE AIR! IF YOU GO OUR OF BOUNDS YOU WILL BE DISQUALIFIED! ONE KO WINS THE GAME!"

"KICK HIS ASS FOXY!" A foxy pirate yells.

"YOU'RE GOING DOWN STRAW HAT!" Another foxy pirate yells.

"BEAT HIM UP LUFFY!" Rose cheers.

"DON'T LOSE LUFFY!" Sanji cheers.

"EVERYONE'S REALLY EXCITED AT THE MATCH! THERE'S NO TURNING BACK NOW! THE FATE OF BOTH CREWS RELIES ON THE CAPTAINS! LET THE GAME BERGIN!" Itomimizu announces as he rings the bell to start the fight.

The battle starts with Foxy getting the upper hand thanks to his slow slow beam. Foxy uses the weapons on the ship going from arrows, cannons, and creepy foxy bombs which blow up all over the deck.

"LUFFY!" Nami, Usopp and Chopper yells in worry for their captain.

"Calm down it will take more than that to stop him." Sanji says as he puffs a smoke from his cigarette.

"You're right about that especially since he dodged." Rose says as she points to where Luffy is up on the crow's nest.

"WAAH! AMAZING STRAW HAT LUFFY DODGED THE BOMBS!" Itomimizu announces as both crews cheer for Luffy.

The battle intensifies as both contenders don't pull any punches. Foxy sends Luffy inside the ship with a pitfall trap causing the crews to wait patiently.

"He'd better not lose." Zoro says

"He won't lose the afro will make him stronger!" Usopp says as he pumps a fist in the air.

"With the afro Foxy doesn't stand a chance." Sanji says

"You got that right!" Rose nods in agreement.

"Why does an afro make him stronger?" Nami asks with a skeptic look as smoke is rising from the ship to show Foxy standing triumphantly while Luffy is down.

"LUFFY!" The crew yells in worry until Luffy rises up to face Foxy again.

"For my friends… I WILL FIGHT TO THE DEATH!" Luffy yells as he fights Foxy.

"IN THAT CASE I WILL MAKE SURE YOU STAY DOWN FOR GOOD!" Foxy yells as he gets back to the fight.

Foxy doesn't show mercy with his punches and the slow slow beam, but Luffy keeps coming back up and fighting back with all of his willpower. Both crews cheer for Luffy's amazing dedication and stamina.

(I know Luffy's a great fighter but this is amazing! I've always loved watching Luffy's fights back in my world but seeing it up close puts all of those fights to shame!) Rose watches Luffy's fight in pure excitement as she scoots to the edge of her seat.

Luffy and Foxy launch the final punch Foxy using his slow slow beam but it reflects back to him because of Luffy's hidden mirror.

"A-AMAZING LUFFY HAD A MIRROR SHARD IN HIS HAND DURING THE FIGHT!"

"I had it in my afro from the mirror room. It's time to end this Gum Gum…" Luffy flails his arm around and then hits Foxy straight in the face "FLAIL!"

After Luffy hit him he slowly walked away as Foxy was slowly experiencing the impact of that punch as his slow slow beam was wearing off and everyone was counting down till the beam wore off.

"8!" Zoro says.

"7!" Sanji says.

"6!" Robin says.

"5!" Usopp yells as he stand and gets the foxy pirates to cheer.

"4!" Chopper yells.

"3!" Nami says.

"2!" Rose yells as she stands up unable to contain her excitement anymore.

"1!" everyone yells as Foxy goes flying out of bounds and into the water.

"HE-HE DID IT! MONKEY D. LUFFY HAS BROKEN FOXY'S RECORD AND HAS WON THE DAVY BACK FIGHT!" Itomimizu  
announces as the crowd goes crazy from that fight.

Luffy starts to collapse but Rose uses her wind to bring him over to the crew.

"Great work captain." Rose says with a soft smile as she brings him over to Chopper.

* * *

Luffy just woke up from the fight and is now deciding what to take from the Foxy pirates.

"I choose the flag." Luffy says.

"WHAT?!" everyone but Rose and Robin yell in surprise.

"Why Luffy?! There are plenty of girls to choose from even that sexy shipwright!" Sanji says in disappointment.

"If we got a crew mate from something like this it wouldn't be worth it." Luffy says.

Rose grins in satisfaction. (That's Luffy for ya. Franky is a better shipwright anyway.)

"YOU DEVIL! YOU WANT TO STEAL OUR SAIL SO WE'RE TRAPPED HERE?!" Foxy yells in turmoil.

"I just want your flag you can keep the sail"

"But our Jolly Roger is on the sail!"

"I'll just erase it and make a new one for you."

"You're… So nice" Foxy says with a tear of joy in his eye until he sees Luffy's poor design.

"IT'S HORRIBLE!" the Foxy crew yells in depression.

(HAHA! That'll teach them to mess with other crews!) Rose tries her best to hold back from laughing.

"THE STRAW HAT CREW IS THE WINNER! THE DAVY BACK FIGHT IS OFFICIALLY OVER!" Itomimizu announces as he and the rest of the Foxy pirates sail away swearing that they will someday get revenge.

* * *

The crew head over to Tonjiit's house with the flag in tow.

"Thank you for defending us we're sorry for the trouble." Tonjiit says

"It's nothing!" Luffy says as he flashes his toothy grin.

Chopper goes over to change Shelly's bandages.

"We can give you a ride to your village on our ship if you want?" Nami suggests to Tonjiit.

"Don't worry about it I can wait. Why don't we go inside and have some cheese." Tonjiit turns around to go inside the house only to run into a sleeping Aokiji.

(Oh shit! I forgot about this guy!) Rose turn to see Robin completely shocked in seeing Aokiji.

"Robin!" Luffy yells as everyone gets in a defensive position.

"You sure have grown into a fine woman Nico Robin." Aokiji says with a smile.

"Robin, do you know this guy?" Zoro asks as he is ready to unsheathe his katana.

"He's Aokiji one of the three admirals of the marines."

"WHAT'S SOMEONE LIKE THAT DOING HERE?!" Usopp yells as he hides behind Zoro.

"My! Looks like we have two more sexy ladies here" Aokiji says as he turns to Rose and Nami.

"I'm not interested in Marines old man!" Rose retorts back.

"LEAVE THE GIRLS ALONE ASSHOLE!" Sanji yells.

"Chill kids. I don't want to fight! I only came here to confirm Nico Robin's whereabouts. By the way old man pack up and get ready to move I'll help you" Aokiji says as he lays down on the ground.

"DON'T LISTEN TO HIM OLD MAN! HE'S A MARINE!" Luffy yells as Tonjiit and the rest of the crew stay quiet.

"Isn't that a good thing?" Tonjiit asks.

"Right, usually we're the bad guys." Luffy says as he pounds his fist in realization.

"BE SERIOUS!" Usopp yells as he whacks Luffy in the head.

"How exactly would the marine help the old man?" Zoro asks with a skeptic look.

"With his help it's possible." Robin says trying to calm herself.

"She's right with his abilities it's no problem." Rose says in agreement causing everyone to wonder what they meant.

* * *

"ICE AGE." Aokiji mutters as he freezes the ocean for Tonjiit to cross and completely shocking everyone but Rose and Robin.

"This will last for ten days that should be enough time for you to catch up with your village." Aokiji says as he helps Tonjiit onto the ice.

"Thank you all. If it weren't for you I would still be on those stilts! I hope we meet again!" Tonjiit says as he waves the crew and Aokiji goodbye.

"Wow, your powers are awesome! You're not so bad for a marine shishishi." Luffy says with his big grin.

(I remember where this leads to. I gotta help Robin.) Rose walks to Robin and prepares herself.

Robin looks at her in confusion. "What's wrong Ro-"

"I was going to leave after seeing Robin, but maybe you all should die here." Aokiji cuts Robin off as he gets up from his spot while the others glare at him.

"I THOUGHT YOU WEREN'T GOING TO ATTACK US?!" Chopper and Usopp yell.

"In between the start of your journey and now your power has grown greatly. The crew is now extremely dangerous because of you… Nico Robin."

"What was that? What did Robin-chan do to you?" Sanji says as Usopp has to hold him back.

"She didn't do anything to me, but I'm just telling the truth. She's a curse for every organization she's been a part of always gets annihilated." Aokiji says as he approaches Rose and Robin.

Rose runs in front of her and glares at him. "ROBIN'S NOT A CURSE YOU OVERGROWN POPSICLE! THE WORLD GOVERNMENT'S THE ONE WHO'S A CURSE BY HURTING ANYONE WHO'S POSES A THREAT TO THEM!"

The crew is completely surprised at Roses outburst but Aokiji stays calm.

"You have some good friends Robin. I wonder how long these new tools of yours will last."

"SHUT UP! IF YOU WANT TO ARREST ME BRING IT ON! TRENTA FLORES!" Robin screams in fury as she uses her devil fruit power to put Aokiji in a hold but he escapes by turning himself to ice.

"That was harsh Robin. Did I strike a nerve?" Aokiji says as he grabs a few blades of grass and turns them into an ice sword. Zoro blocks Aokiji's attack, Sanji kicks the ice sword away but before Aokiji can get a hold of them Rose sends them flying away from Aokiji.

"DON'T TOUCH HIM! HE'LL FREEZE YOU!" Rose yells as she tries to use her ability to attack but it doesn't work. (Damnit! I'm still not used to going on the offense.)

"What have we here? Seems the crew also has a logia user! A new one at that!" Aokiji says as he approaches her.

"Robin, when I jump run to the ship." Rose whispers as Robin tries to stop her but Rose jumps and uses a wind blast to force Aokiji to the ground then Rose keeps her wind hold on him while flying right above him and gives him a devious smirk.

(If I taunt him maybe he'll forget about Robin and come after me.) "I'm surprised you're willing to go after Robin when you spared her from Ohara's buster call Kuzan. Why not go after a real threat that knows about you and Sakazuki's crimes?" Rose whispers so only Aokiji could hear causing him to go wide eyed "As you wish." He uses his ice to make a shield against the wind and grabs her arms making her unable to get out of his icy grip.

"ROSE!" the crew yells as they run to stop him but she's already starting to freeze.

"LEAVE HER ALONE!" Robin yells as she is about to use her devil fruit powers but Rose sends her flying away from the battle to the direction of the ship.

"ROSE! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Robin yells as she tries to fight against the wind but it's too strong.

"Better me than you Robin." Rose says with a smile as Aokiji completely freezes her.

"ROSE! YOU ASSHOLE!" Luffy yells in fury.

"Chill. If you thaw her she'll be fine but she's brittle at the moment, so if you hit her she'll die. Who would've thought two threats would be on your crew. You must have some rotten luck. I might as well make it easier on you and get rid of one of them. Like if you smash this one like this." Aokiji is about to strike at Rose but before he could Luffy grabs her and avoids Aokiji's hit.

"Now I'm mad." Luffy says as he tries to get Rose to safety but Aokiji lifts his foot above them and is about to crush Rose but Usopp quickly grabs her and runs to the ship with Chopper and Nami.

"GREAT WORK USOPP! GET ROSE BACK TO THE SHIP AND THAW HER OUT!" Luffy yells

"You shouldn't be saving dangerous women!" Aokiji says as he starts to freeze.

Zoro attacks Aokiji to stop him from going after the guys.

"SHUT UP! I DON'T CARE HOW DANGEROUS ROBIN OR ROSE ARE WE'LL HELP THEM NO MATTER WHAT!" Sanji yells as he joins in the attack Aokiji grabs onto Zoro's arm and Sanji's leg and starts to freeze them. Luffy punches him which causes him to let the guys go but his hand gets frozen as well.

"You should have listened to Rose when she said don't touch me." Aokiji says as he heads to the boat but Luffy blocks him.

"Guys, I want to fight him alone!" Luffy says with his bangs covering his eyes.

The others nod in agreement as they head to the ship.

* * *

"CHOPPER!" Sanji and Zoro yell as they run over to the Merry.

"GUYS! WHERE'S LUFFY?!" Chopper yells from the deck.

"WE'LL TELL YOU LATER! JUST THAW US!" Zoro yells.

"We're still thawing Rose in the bathroom…" Chopper scrambles to think about what to do but Zoro and Sanji jumped into the ocean.

"That will work! When you're done come up and massage your frozen limbs!" Chopper says as he goes back to the bathroom to Rose and the others.

"Will she be ok?" Nami asks as she helps rubs Roses limbs while Robin uses her devil fruit abilities to sprout dozens of hands around Rose to warm her up.

"If we keep this up she should recover." Chopper says as he continues his treatment.

"He really did a number on her. What exactly did she say to him?" Nami asks

"I don't know, but she knew it would get his attention…" Robin says with a sad face as she looks at Rose. (What exactly do you know Rose?)

"CHOPPER! WE GOT LUFFY WE NEED YOU TO THAW HIM!" Sanji yells as he and Zoro hold a frozen Luffy.

"WAAH! LUFFY TOO?! HANG ON!" Chopper goes out to grab Luffy as Nami and Robin take Rose to the infirmary.

* * *

The crew waits for Chopper to give the news when he suddenly comes out with tears in his eyes.

"Luffy and Rose are going to be fine! Luffy's asleep in the men's room now. They should be back to normal in a few days!" Chopper says as he cries with joy.

The crew sighs with relief and they do what they can to get ready while their crew mates are recovering. Usopp slumps down in exhaustion of the day's events.

"What's the matter Long Nose?" Robin asks as she walks towards Usopp.

"Will we face strong guys like that more often?" Usopp asks as he lays down.

"It's been a long day. Go rest, you look tired." Zoro says and Usopp agrees as he and most of the crew head to bed from a long day except Robin who looks out in the horizon with worry about today's events.

(No matter what I'm not letting this crew fall apart.) Robin clenches her fists when she remembers Roses words ("SHE'S NOT A CURSE!") "You don't know how wrong you are Rose." Robin looks out in the horizon for a moment before heading to bed not knowing what events await her in the future.

TO BE CONTINUED


	5. Chapter 5

_The Straw Hats are engaged in a fierce battle with Aokiji. Rose made the others stay back while she fought him with her logia abilities. Both sides don't give an inch and are getting exhausted, Aokiji launches ice spears at her. She flew straight at him, making the ice spears go through her while delivering the final blow._

 _"WIND TWISTER PUNCH!" Rose yells as her fists turn into a tornado that hits Aokiji's face, sends him flying into a boulder and finishing the battle with him without anyone getting frozen. The crew is now walking over to the ship for some well-earned rest._

 _"That was brilliant Rose-Chwan! You really knew how to take care of that asshole!" Sanji swoons as he love tornadoes around Rose._

 _Rose grins as they keep walkin. "Thanks Sanji, I'm still surprised I managed to control my powers to beat him!"_

 _Chopper looks at her curiously. "What exactly did you say to get him to attack you?"_

 _"I just told him a few things he didn't like to hear."_

 _Robin goes in front of Rose and stops the crew from walking while starting to break her composure. "I want the truth Rose. You knew a lot about Aokiji and you knew not only about how the race worked but also about what Foxy can do during the first round. What aren't you telling us?"_

 _Zoro joins Robin and scowls at Rose. "So I'm not the only one that noticed. You seem to know a lot about us even though we just met and during today's events you knew what was going to happen. Tell us the truth."_

 _Rose gives them a soft look. "Guys…"_

 _The rest of the crew joins Robin and Zoro for they all want to know the truth._

 _"You want the truth? Fine, I'm from another world one that…" Rose looks at the ground in worry about how to say it._

 _"Go on." Nami says with her arms crossed around her chest._

 _"A world that knows almost everything about this world, you guys, and your adventures!" Rose says with her eyes closed. When she opens them she doesn't like what she sees when she sees some of the crew with fear in their eyes while most give her an angry glare._

 _"So, you know about our adventures so far?" Zoro asks and she nods._

 _"WHICH MEANS YOU KNOW ABOUT OUR PASTS AS WELL?!" Robin asks with venom in her voice_

 _"Most of your pasts, but I wasn't going to reveal them I swear!" Rose tries walk up to the crew with open arms but they step away from her._

 _"She's even scarier than a sea king!" Usopp says in fear._

 _"RUN AWAY!" Chopper yells as he and Usopp run to the ship._

 _"GUYS WAIT!" Rose tries to go after them but she is blocked by the others._

 _"Don't bother following. Having you in our crew will only lead to trouble." Sanji says as he puffs a smoke and gives Rose the scariest glare he's ever given to a girl causing her to step back in fear._

 _"Pl-please, if you guys will let me exp-" Zoro cuts Rose off with a sword pointed to her face._

 _"There's no need to explain witch. You're only going to get in our way! You're out of the crew!"_

 _Rose widens her purple eyes in terror. "But-"_

 _"Aokiji! Perfect timing, can you dispose of this for us?" Robin cuts her off as Aokiji approaches Rose from behind._

 _Aokiji smirks as he turns his arms into ice. "It will be my pleasure Robin!"_

 _Rose tries to fight back but her wind doesn't work and Aokiji locks her in an embrace and starts to freeze. She turns to the crew to give them one last plea._

 _"LUFFY! PLEASE LISTEN TO ME! I DON'T WANT TO HURT ANYONE! I JUST WANTED TO LEAVE MY WORLD!" Rose cries out with tears in her eyes, but is answered with one of Luffy's glares, the ones he only shows to his enemies._

 _"I don't want anyone ruining our adventures. If you can't understand that then you're better off dead."_

 _Rose gives them a look of pure heart break as Aokiji finishes freezing her entire body._

 _"May we do the honors?" Nami asks._

 _"You got it!" Aokiji says as he leaves._

 _Nami, Robin, Zoro, and Sanji get ready to strike her but Luffy stops them._

 _"Hold on guys, it's the captain's responsibility to handle its crew members."_

 _The others nod in understanding and step back as Luffy pulls his arms back._

 _"GUM GUM BAZOOKA!" Luffy attacks Rose with full force and shatters her body into a thousand pieces._

* * *

Rose wakes up in a jolt from the nightmare, gasping for breath and looking around the room to find herself in the infirmary of the Going Merry in the middle of the night.

(It was just a dream… What happened?) Rose remembers the events of the battle with Aokiji as she stares at the ground. (That's right, I stopped Robin from getting frozen and I pissed off Aokiji… I'm gonna get questioned tomorrow that's for sure…) Rose tries to come up with a solution for her mess as she walks to the upper deck of the ship to look at the stars but the clouds are in the way.

"Stupid clouds, I hate when they're out at night! Hmm… I wonder." She flies up and focuses her wind powers. She forces the wind to push the clouds out of the way so the stars can be viewed.

(AWESOME! This is an astronomers dream!) She spins in excitement as she manipulates the clouds to get the stars in full view.

"Now I'm curious! What if I…" She moves the clouds together and makes a hole in the clouds so the cloud doesn't touch her when she goes inside but makes her invisible to the outside world.

(THIS IS PERFECT! I CAN USE THIS WHENEVER WE HAVE COVERT MISSIONS!) She peeks out of the cloud to see a shadow figure on the deck sneaking into the kitchen. (What the hell? Who's on night watch?! I'll take care of him!) She sheds her cloud disguise and rushes over the kitchen to find a lone figure eating food from the fridge.

Unable to recognize the intruder she sends him flying to the wall at the other side of the kitchen and got ready to punch him until she recognizes the intruder's voice.

"ROSE! YOU'RE AWAKE!" Luffy says as he tackles her into a hug.

"Lu-Luffy! What are you doing up?" Rose asks as she tries to hide her blush.

"I got hungry, so I came here for a midnight snack. What are you doing up?" Luffy asks as he lets go of her and continues eating his food.

(Like I can tell him about my nightmare…) "I-I couldn't sleep. So, what happened with everyone else after I got frozen?"

"I got frozeb an the creu thawed ush. I woje up thiz mornin." Luffy answers with a mouth full of meat.

"I see, I'm glad it worked out." Rose says with a soft smile as she grabs an apple from the fridge and joins him.

"How did you know I was in here?"

"I was hiding up in the clouds watching the stars when I saw you walking in, but I couldn't see your face so I thought you were an intruder. Sorry about that."

"THAT'S SO COOL! CAN I SEE?!" Luffy asks with stars in his eyes.

"Hehe, I'll do you one better come on!" Rose leads him outside where the giant cloud that Rose formed still remained. "Ready to fly Luffy?"

"LET'S GO!" Luffy yells with excitement. She focuses her wind and makes the cloud able to contain two people without giving them away. "This is awesome!"

"Right?! And the best part of this is that now I can see the stars without the clouds blocking the view anymore!" Rose says as she looks up at the stars with excitement.

"You're right! The stars look great Shishishi!"

"Yea! And all the constellations are amazing like OH! The Little Dipper is over there, Orion is over there, and even the Capricorn constellation is here too! Wow!" Rose points at each constellation with excitement as Luffy tries to follow.

"Wow, you really like the stars huh?"

"Yea, the stars have always been amazing to me. My parents were astronomers and they taught me everything I know. They even came up with the theory of other worlds!" Rose slaps her mouth to shut herself up but it's too late as she turns around to see Luffy's excited expression.

"THERE ARE OTHER WORLDS OUT THERE?!"

(Oh boy… Way to go Rose… I might as well tell him and let him laugh. As long as I keep quiet about me being from one no harm right?) Rose sighs as she turns to look at the stars.

"Yup, other worlds exist. There are probably as many out there as there are stars in the sky! You know those stories that you read at night? In reality every story is in its own dimension and the events are actually happening. What my parents studied along with astronomy is a comet called the Timore comet that's said to travel to every one of these dimensions. They somehow managed to finish their research along with a theory of how to go to one but it got lost… My dream is to finish what my folks started and find out everything about the comet."

She caught herself getting carried away with her dream and forms an apologetic smile before looking at Luffy. "Sorry, I'm probably boring you with this." She turns her head to see a look of pure excitement from her captain.

"THAT'S AMAZING! WHEN YOU FIND OUT HOW TO GO TO THESE OTHER WORLDS CAN THE CREW GO TOO?!"

Rose looks at Luffy's excitement in shock then chuckles to herself. (Hehe, I'm an idiot. of course Luffy wouldn't laugh at other people's dreams. I'm grateful the Timore comet brought me to these guys but…) She remembers what Luffy said in her nightmare. ("I don't want anyone ruining our adventures"… It's best not to tell him or the others the truth, at least not until we passed the Punk Hazard arc where I won't know what happens.)

She nods to herself then smiles at her captain. "If I can finish my family's research about the comet and find out how to travel I wouldn't want anyone else but you guys with me."

She brings the two of them back to the deck of the ship while Luffy grins. "Great! Then I've decided!"

She quirks an eyebrow. "Decided on what?"

"From now on you're the crews astromancer! Shishishi!"

She holds back from laughing at his declaration. "I think you mean 'astronomer' Luffy!"

"Yea that!"

"By the way, who's on night watch tonight?! Shouldn't they have noticed we were down here?"

"I think Zoro is on duty! I'll be right back!" Luffy heads inside the boat and comes back in a flash with something in his hand.

"I betcha Zoro is asleep! Shishishi." Luffy tries to hold back his giggles but he fails causing Rose to raise an eyebrow.

"I agree with you there. Wanna go check it out?" Rose asks and he nods. Both crew mates fly up to the crow's nest to find a sleeping Zoro.

"Shishishi! This is gonna be good!" Luffy whispers as he reveals two markers.

"Brilliant Luffy!" Rose whispers as Luffy hands her one of the markers.

"You get the left side, I'll get the right." Luffy says with a mischievous grin as Rose takes the marker and matches his grin.

"Let's do it."

Both crew mates manage to draw on Zoro's face they worked together on the upper lip to give him a swirly mustache. Luffy drew poor skull marks, meat, and fish on his side. Rose drew stars, a swirl on his eye, rain drops under his lip, and wrote "marimo" on his forehead. When both artists were satisfied with their work they quietly dropped down to the deck and were silently laughing.

"Oh man! Zoro is gonna kill us when he sees our art project tomorrow hahaha!" Rose whispers as she wipes a tear from her eye.

"That was great! Can't wait to see his reaction tomorrow! Shishishi!" Luffy says as they walk inside.

"I'm gonna head back to bed. Good night Rose!" Luffy walks away but stops to notice Rose isn't heading to bed. "What's the matter?"

"U-um I forgot something in the kitchen!" Rose lies as she shifts her eyes everywhere and turns around to head to the deck.

"You stink at lying!" Luffy says bluntly which causes Rose to stop in her tracks.

"I'm probably as bad at lying as you are… Alright, I just don't want to go to sleep right now." Rose keeps her back to her captain who grabs her shoulder and pulls her back into an embrace with her back to him. "Wh-what the? What are you doing Luffy?" She begins to blush and tries to get out but Luffy keeps a strong grip on her as they head to the infirmary.

"If you had a bad dream all you had to do was say so! You should still rest since you're recovering so I'll sleep with you."

"What?! Not happening! I'm ok Luffy really! I-I didn't ha-have any nightmares" She purses her lips and looks down to try to hide her blush as she struggles.

"See?! Your lying stinks! All of us were really worried about you, so I want you to get your rest… Please?"

Rose turns to him in surprise. (Has Luffy always been this sweet? Hehe, this guy never stops surprising me.) She starts to form a sheepish grin. "Alright, you win! I'll go to bed, but we don't need to sleep together."

"It's easier for someone who had a nightmare to fall asleep when they're with someone close right? So, we should sleep together! Besides, it's safer to hide in here when Zoro wakes up!" Luffy lays on the only bed in the infirmary with her in tow.

(I don't know if he wants to comfort me or hide from Zoro… But, he's right. I'd rather not be alone right now.) She sighs as she resigns to her fate. "Thank you Luffy, I really appreciate it. Good night!"

"Good night!" Luffy throws the blanket over the two of them and falls asleep.

* * *

 _"Rose, what have I told you about fighting bullies?" Roses father Joe says as he crosses his arms over his chest while scolding his 7 year old daughter who was sent home for fighting bullies again._

 _"When you fight a bully you have to aim for the nose…" Rose says as she looks at the ground and shifts her foot._

 _The brown haired man nods with a grin. "That's right! The best way to get rid of a bully is to hit them in the nose with all you got and why?"_

 _"Because bullies are like sharks. When you hit them in the nose they go running."_

 _"That's ri-" Joe was cut off by a whack in the head by his wife and Roses mother Teresa._

 _"DON'T TEACH OUR DAUGHTER USELESS STUFF!"_

 _Joe rubs his head while whining. "BUT, TERESA! IF BULLIES ARE GOING TO PICK ON OUR LITTLE GIRL I WANT TO MAKE SURE SHE CAN PROTECT HERSELF!"_

 _Teresa whacks him on the head again in irritation "We should be teaching her how to get along with oth-"_

 _"NO! I DON'T WANT TO GET ALONG WITH THOSE JERKS!" Rose yells causing both of them to stare at her._

 _Teresa sighs as she sits on the couch and places her daughter on her lap. "Rose, why did you get in a fight with them?"_

 _"There were saying how your research is crazy and how you should go to a mad house for believing in other worlds… I DON'T CARE WHAT YOU SAY! I WON'T BE FRIENDS WITH PEOPLE WHO MAKE FUN OF YOU OR YOUR RESEARCH! SOMEDAY WE'RE GOING TO ANOTHER WORLD AND WHEN WE DO THEY WILL REGRET MAKING FUN OF YOU!" She yells in anger as tears escape her eyes causing both Teresa and Joe to embrace her._

 _Teresa rubs her daughters back to calm her down. "Rose, thank you for defending us but you can't get in a fight with everyone who doesn't believe in our research."_

 _Rose sighs as she stares at the floor. "I know, but I can't stand it when you guys get picked on for being geniuses!"_

 _Joe nods as he ruffles his daughters brown hair then starts smirking. "We know Rose, but think of it this way. When we prove them wrong about the other worlds we won't let them go to any of them."_

 _Rose starts grinning before nodding at her dad. "Yea!"_

 _Teresa grins before turning Rose to face her. "I know it's hard to hear people doubt us, but hang in there for us ok?"_

 _She nods. "Ok."_

 _"Good girl." She kisses Rose on the cheek before placing her on the couch as she gets up. "I'm going to get started on dinner. Joe, don't do anything stupid." She glares at her husband causing him to sweat drop._

 _"Have a little faith honey! I'm just going to teach her some constellations." Joe says with an innocent grin as she leaves the room._

 _Joe picks Rose and and heads to the study before whispering to her. "Along with our lessons how about I teach you how to fight? Just in case those rotten bullies attack first. We won't tell mom."_

 _Rose nods in excitement at the thought of training with her dad. "Yea, let's do it!"_

* * *

Rose woke up from her dream with a soft smile but when she tries to get up she feels something hold her back to the bed.

(What the hell?) She looks down to see that her body is wrapped multiple times by Luffy's arms. She turns around to see Luffy's sleeping face right in front of her causing her to immediately blush and her eyes to be as wide as plates.

(AAAAH! WHAT'S LUFFY DOING HERE?!) Rose scoots away from him then starts to remember last night's events. (That's right, I had that bad dream and Luffy comforted me…) She relaxes and smiles at Luffy.

(For an idiot he can be pretty cute. Wait, what am I thinking?! Whatever, I gotta get out of whatever this is before someone from the crew finds us and gets the wrong idea!) "Luffy! Wake up, and let go! The crew's gonna wake up any minute!" Rose struggles to get out of Luffy's wrappings but it only gets worse when Luffy pulls her closer to him and tightens his grip. "You're killing me here Luffy! Why did you have to have a vice grip from hell? Wait, someone is going to be coming after us right? Why was that again?" She keeps strugging when she hears crashes outside.

"LUFFY!" Zoro and Sanji yell from outside the room.

(Oh shit, that's right! we ate Sanji's food and drew on Zoro's face. This is serious!) She tries even harder to get out but Luffy won't budge. She's left with no choice but to fly behind the barrels with Luffy in tow.

(Here we go again…) She sulks as she remembers hiding here the first day on the ship as she lays Luffy down on the ground.

"WAHAHAHA! Nice paint job moss head! You look ten times better!" Sanji laughs from outside the room.

"SHUT UP LOVE COOK! Where's Luffy? He's not in the men's room."

"If I knew I would be beating him up right now for stealing meat from the fridge again. The only place we haven't checked is the infirmary where Rose is. If he bothered Rose-chan I'll kick him into next week."

"As long as I get him back for drawing on me I don't care." Zoro opens the door to find Roses bed empty.

"WHERE'S ROSE-CHAN?!" Sanji yells in worry.

"I don't know, but I have a feeling she's got something to do with our missing captain. You look over there I'll look over here." Zoro says as he looks to where the barrels are. (This looks familiar.) He walks over to the barrels and widens his eyes when he sees Rose trapped in Luffy's arms.

"Please get Sanji out of here!" Rose pleads in a whisper.

"I take it you both were involved with this?" Zoro asks in a whisper while pointing to his face.

"I'll explain what happened after Sanji is gone!" Rose whispers back.

Zoro starts smirking. "Wrong answer. Oi Love cook! I found them!"

"Zoro you asshole!" Rose uses her wind to throw Zoro at Sanji and flies with the sleeping Luffy wrapped around her out of the room and into the hall with both of the guys chasing them.

"LUFFY! HOW DARE YOU WRAP YOURSELF AROUND ROSE LIKE THAT! WAIT TILL I GET MY HANDS ON YOU!" Sanji yells.

"IT'S NOT WHAT YOU THINK SANJI! WE JUST SLEPT TOGETHER!" Rose covers her mouth realizing what she just said made the situation worse.

Sanji looks at them in shock then rage flames start growing out of him. "YOU SLEPT WITH HER YOU SHITTY CAPTAIN?!"

Rose stares at him with shock as she flies away from him. (Whoa! He really can go super saiyan! That's kinda awesome. Wait, now's not the time to be fangirling! I gotta get away from them!) She flies out to the deck where the others are stopping what they're doing to watch the hilarious scene of Rose being wrapped by an unconscious Luffy and flying away from a pursuing Sanji and Zoro.

"Why can't these idiots get up in a normal way?" Nami asks as she waters her tangerines.

"I see Rose is as lively as ever. I'm glad she's feeling well." Robin says not changing her grin

"HAHAHA! NICE LOOK ZORO!" Usopp yells as he and Chopper laugh at Zoro's face earning a death glare from him.

"INSTEAD OF WATCHING, HELP ME OUT HERE GUYS!" Rose yells to the others when Robin uses her devil fruit power to stop the guys in their tracks by grabbing the guys' legs from the deck and tripping them. Rose lands while gently placing down Luffy on the deck. "Thanks Robin."

Luffy finally wakes up and lets go of Rose and looks to see the crew surrounding them. "Good morning guys! Hey Rose, why are we on the-"

"YOU'RE THE REASON!" Rose yells in full embarrassment as she whacks Luffy on the head.

"Ahem."

Rose and Luffy both look at the crowd. Nami steps forward and gives both Luffy and Rose a whack to the head. "DON'T CAUSE TROUBLE SO EARLY IN THE MORNING!"

"We're sorry…" both of the pranksters say as they look down at the deck.

After Nami finished her scolding she gave Zoro a whack to the head.

"WHY DID I GET HIT?!" Zoro yells.

"For someone who was on night watch you should have been awake! I'm increasing your debt for that!" Nami says earning a death glare from Zoro.

"How are you feeling Rose? Do you feel any cold?" Chopper asks as he inspects her.

"I'm feeling much better thanks to you Chopper." Rose says causing Chopper to go into another happy dance.

"That Aokiji really gave you guys the cold shoulder though." Usopp says causing Rose, Chopper and Luffy to laugh while the others groan at the pun.

"That joke was almost as bad as drawing on my face." Zoro says still sour about the prank.

"Sorry again about that Zoro." Rose says while holding back on a chuckle from how his face looks.

"IF YOU MEAN IT THEN DON'T LAUGH!"

"Oh come on Zoro it was just a prank lighten up." Usopp says as he recovers from laughing and joins Luffy and Chopper in a game of tag.

"By the way Rose, why exactly were you and Luffy sleeping together?" Nami asks with a mischievous grin causing Zoro to grin as well.

(What are they thinking?) "Whatever you're thinking didn't happen. Luffy just wanted to hide from Zoro before he saw our art project."

"I don't know! Luffy seemed to really like having you in his arms~" Nami said in a sing song tone causing Rose to get embarrassed.

"I'm telling you guys. Luffy doesn't have any romantic feelings for me!"

"Could that mean you have feelings for him?" Zoro asks with a mischievous grin.

"SHUT UP MOSS HEAD! AS IF ANYTHING CAN HAPPEN BETWEEN ROSE-CHAN AND THE SHITTY CAPTAIN!" Sanji yells as he aims a kick at Zoro causing the two to get in another battle.

(Good thing Sanji helped. It's not like I have any feelings for Luffy… right?) Rose looks over to the playing Luffy in thought when Robin approached her from behind.

"Rose may I talk to you alone?" Robin asks causing Rose to jolt and snap out of her thoughts.

"Su-sure Robin…"

Rose follows Robin to the girl's room as Robin made sure nobody was around to over hear them. "I know that Nami and I said that we would wait until you were ready to talk about your past but after that outburst with Aokiji things have changed." Robin says as she sheds her grin. "What is your relationship to Aokiji and the world government?"

(SHIT! I knew this would happen. What can I say that will get her off of my back?!) Rose frowns with worry while trying to find the right thing to say.

"I'm waiting!"

"Alright, Aokiji… Harmed a very close friend of mine. I hate the marines and the world government because they misuse their power to hurt innocent people in the name of justice. I'm sorry if I was out of line during the battle, but I just didn't want to see someone close to me get frozen in front of my eyes again…" Rose says as she looks down and clenches her fists.

Robin widens her eyes in shock the regains a small grin. "I see… I forgive you for interfering, but don't do it again. Just as how you don't like seeing people close to you get hurt I also don't like it."

"I promise Robin, but on one condition. Promise me that you don't take Aokiji's words to heart. No matter what he or anyone in the world government says no one's existence is cursed. You have every right to be here as any of us do."

Robin was shocked at the promise but she kept her smile. "I promise."

Rose smiles with relief as the boat suddenly shifts.

Both girls run up to the deck to find the guys using giant paddles to steer the ship.

"What's going on guys?" Rose asks as she helps the guys with one of the paddles.

Luffy points to a giant frog with black hair and scars on his chest swimming in the ocean. "THERE'S A FROG DOING FREESTYLE WITH SCARS ALL OVER HIS BODY! I'M GOING TO CATCH IT AND EAT IT!"

"YOU'RE GONNA EAT IT?!" The other guys ask in shock.

Rose looks at them in shock. "DID YOU SAY A FROG?!" She looks to see the frog standing on the sea train rails. (It's Yokozuna! That means we're at Water Seven! Oh no!) "GUYS TURN AROUND QUICK!"

"WHAT?! WHY?!" Nami asks when the others start to hear the sea train.

"THAT'S WHY! NOW HURRY!" Rose yells as the others turn the ship around and avoid the sea train.

"WAIT! WHAT ABOUT THE FROG?" Usopp yells as the other see the sea train heading straight for him.

"HEY FROG! GET OUT OF THE WAY!" Luffy yells but it was too late as the sea train sends him flying.

"I GOT HIM!" Rose yells as she catches him with her wind and lands him on the deck of the ship.

"Great catch Rose! NOW LET'S EAT!" Luffy yells, but Nami whacks him on the head

"WE'RE NOT EATING HIM!"

"WAAH! HE'S BADLY INJURED! CALL A DOCTOR!" Chopper yelled

"YOU'RE THE DOCTOR!" the crew yells then Chopper goes to treat him.

"What was that giant ship?" Sanji says as he hands the daily drinks to the girls.

"I've heard about it. It's called a sea train. It runs on the water rails and is strong enough to go against the sea kings." Rose says as she drinks her hot chocolate.

"Really? Wow!" Usopp says.

(Here comes the start of the next arc. I'll have to do my best!) Rose looks to Water Seven with determination as the next adventure begins.

TO BE CONTINUED


	6. Chapter 6

After treating Yokozuna from his fight against the sea train the straw hats made a stop over to Kokoro's light house where they spotted a young girl named Chimney.

"Granny! Some pirates got Yokozuna!" Chimney yells as she runs to the light house.

"What?! Hold on Chimney!" Kokoro comes out of the building with a den den mushi in her hand.

"She's calling reinforcements!" Zoro prepares himself to fight when Rose puts an arm in front of him.

"I wouldn't worry too much see?" She points to Kokoro whose face is completely red from the alcohol.

"What was I calling for? *Burp* I forgot~" Kokoro slurs as she holds the den den mushi shocking the entire crew.

"YOU'RE DRUNK?!"

After things have calmed down Chopper finished treating Yokozuna as he walks with him over to Kokoro and Chimney.

"How are you doing Yokozuna?" Chimney asks

Yokozuna ribbits in response. "He says 'I'm doing fine, thanks Chimney! I still couldn't beat the Puffing Tom though…'" Chopper translates.

"Is Chimney your name?" Robin asks

"Yea, I'm Chimney, that's my granny Kokoro and Gonbe the cat."

"What did he mean by the Puffing Tom?" Nami asks

"That's the name of the sea train! It brings passengers every day to different islands."

"Why were you fighting the sea train Yokozuna?" Usopp asks

Yokozuna ribbits his reply that Chopper translates "He says 'I won't tell you pirates but I'll say that I'm gonna give that sea train what it deserves!"

"You need to stop doing that Yokozuna! It's becoming a bother." Chimney says but Yokozuna shakes his head.

"So he's trying to beat the sea train? In that case I won't eat him." Luffy says

Yokozuna ribbits a reply that Chopper translates "He says 'as if I would let you eat me human!'"

"So, where are you kids heading?" Kokoro asks as she guzzles down her alcohol

"We need to get to Water Seven in order to meet the shipwrights." Rose replies.

"Well, you guys are in luck Water Seven is a perfect place for shipwrights. They have the best shipwrights in the world there. Here, take this it's a map to get the company and a letter of recommendation with this you should get them to fix the boat." Kokoro says as she hands Nami the pieces of paper.

"Thank you very much Kokoro." Rose says as the others board the ship and set sail to Water Seven.

* * *

"WHOA! THIS PLACE IS HUGE!" Luffy and the others look around Water Seven as they travel through the town.

Rose looks at the place with just as much excitement as Luffy (This is amazing! It's like travelling through Venice! This is so much cooler than back home!)

The crew starts to set anchor and get ready to go to the city.

"When we go to Galley La let's get a big guy as a crew member along with a bronze statue!" Luffy says

"Forget the bronze statue Luffy! Also, we need a sexy girl as a shipwright!" Sanji says

"Forget about that! As long as the person has the right skills it doesn't matter" Zoro says

"I don't care who's our new shipwright as long as we can fix the Merry!"Usopp says in excitement causing Rose to realize something important.

(Oh no, the Merry… How am I going to help the crew through this? From what I can remember there are a few main lines of events on this island one is the news of the Going Merry and the others are-)

"SNAP OUT OF IT ROSE! LET'S GO!" Luffy grabs her as they, Nami, and Usopp start to leave the boat.

"W-wait a minute Luffy, what are we doing?"

"Geez, if you were listening to the conversation you would know that we're going to pawn off the gold to fix the Merry." Nami says

"Are you guys sure you need me along?"

"What are you talking about? You're going to be needed most of all when we pawn the stuff."

Rose looks at Nami skeptically. "Wait, why would I be needed?"

Nami gives her a reassuring grin. "Just trust me on this, now come on! Let's get going!"

The others nod in agreement as they start making their way to the pawn shop. In order to get there the group rented two yagara bulls in order to travel around the city. Rose and Luffy ride in one of the bulls and Nami and Usopp ride in the other.

"WHOOHOO! THIS IS AWESOME!" Luffy yells as the bulls show off their abilities by going against the currents.

"This has got to be one of the coolest things ever!" Rose says in agreement as she looks around the city with excitement while the yagara speeds up.

"Slow down you guys don't try to lose us!" Nami yells as the bulls make their way into the shopping district.

"Don't worry too much Nami we won't- WHOA!" Before Rose could finish the bull took off at full speed with the two of them in tow.

"I SAID WAIT!" Nami and Usopp's bull starts to speed up as it realizes that Luffy's bull wants to make a race out of the trip.

"WAAH! HOW DO YOU STOP THIS THING?!" Nami screams as the bulls keep charging

"LET'S NOT LOSE YAGARA!" Usopp yells as the bull nods while speeding up to catch up with Luffy and Rose.

"HAHAHA! This is crazy! The pawn shop is up ahead right yagara?" Rose asks with the bull nodding "Then how about I give you a speed boost?" The bull tilts his head in confusion but he nods.

"DO IT!" Luffy yells as he grabs onto the reins.

"ROSE! DON'T YOU DARE!" Nami yells out her threat when she sees the look in Roses eyes.

"RELAX NAMI! WE'LL MEET YOU OVER THERE!" Rose focuses and blasts her wind to the back of the boat causing the bull to go full speed.

"HEY! THAT'S CHEATING ROSE!" Usopp yells as he watches the pair gain a huge lead.

"ALL'S FAIR IN LOVE AND WAR MY LONG NOSED FRIEND!" Rose yells back while giving him a mock salute as she blasts her wind.

"SHISHISHI! WAY TO GO ROSE! WE'RE GOING TO WIN FOR SURE!" Luffy turns to the back to see the distance between them and the others, and not looking where they're going. The bull went up an uphill slope by accident and got sent flying courtesy of the wind.

"WHOA!" Luffy and Rose scream in excitement while the yagara screams in terror. When they see that they're about to hit the ground Rose uses her wind to land her and Luffy on the ground along with the gold while gently landing the bull into the water.

"WAHAHAHA! That was great! You alright Luffy?"

"YEA, THAT WAS AWESOME! SHISHISHI!"

"How about you yagara?" Rose finds the bull completely shaken from the experience as he gasps for breath trying to calm down. "I'm sorry for scaring you. Here, consider this a peace offering." Rose gives him a piece of the Water Seven meat as Nami and Usopp approach them.

"Are you guys ok?" Usopp asks as the two nod while Nami runs out of the boat to check the gold. Once she sees that everything is there she sighs in relief then gives off a deadly aura.

"Rose… Luffy…" Nami slowly approaches them while they sweat drop in fear.

"Luffy, on the count of three I'm getting us out of here, so get ready." Rose whispers to Luffy causing him to nod as they step back from Nami "1, 2, 3!" Rose uses her wind to make the two of them jump, avoiding Nami's wrath then grabs the gold and places the two of them back on the bull.

"Yagara, get us out of here, HURRY!" Rose says as the bull nods and goes full speed to the pawn shop with the others in suit.

"WAIT TILL I GET MY HANDS ON YOU! LOSE ONE PIECE OF TREASURE AND YOU TWO ARE FISH FOOD!" The two troublemakers hear Nami's voice as they make their escape when they make a sudden stop.

"Hey bull, why did you stop?' Luffy asks with the bull pointing his head to the pawn shop in front of them.

"Oh crap, we're here…" Rose mutters as the two stiffen when they turn to see Nami approaching them. Rose gives her a nervous smile to try to calm her down."H-hey Nami, just like you wanted not a single piece of gold is missing right Luffy?"

"R-right, nothing was lost so no hard feelings right Nami? Shishi…" They both sweat drop and chuckle awkwardly trying to lighten the mood but Nami doesn't budge causing them to freeze when Nami whacks Luffy but her attack goes through Rose.

Rose blinks in surprise. "Wow, I've gotten better with my abilities hehe."

"SHUT UP!" Nami yells as she tries to whack Rose again but goes through her and lands face first on the ground. The others try to stifle their laughter until Nami gives them a death glare shutting them up before she turns her attention back to Rose. "Alright, then for your punishment you're going to be helping us get more money out of this deal!"

Rose quirks an eyebrow at the declaration "How am I going to do that?" Nami whispers her plan to Rose causing her to be surprised then sighs. "So that's why you wanted me to come. Ok I'll try it, but if it doesn't work don't blame me."

"Trust me, once I give the signal just start working your magic."

Usopp looks to the girls with fright. "This combination is going to be deadly..."

"It should be fine." Luffy says not reading the situation "Come on, let's get the gold in."

The guys carry the gold into the pawn shop along with the girls where the appraiser brings them to the VIP room and gives them his offer.

"WHAT?! 100 MILLION?!" Luffy yells causing Usopp to cover his mouth

"Keep quiet you idiot. You're really going to give us that much money?"

The appraiser nods as he inspects the gold. "Absolutely, these are of high quality and worth every penny!"

(Scam artist, better get ready.) Rose takes a step back as the others jolt when Nami kicks her foot on the table.

"I have three things to tell you Mr. Appraiser. First, the kid in the straw hat has a 100 million beli bounty. Second, I don't think your offer is good enough for us. And third." Nami raises a hand giving Rose the signal to start using her wind to form a whirlwind around them scaring the appraiser further. "If you lie to us again not only will my devil fruit using friend here blow down the building, but we'll also be taking your head for the fun of it."

The appraiser pales as he hears the last part. "I'M SORRY! THE REAL PRICE IS 320 MILLION! PLEASE DON'T KILL ME!"

"That's more like it. Thank you very much." Nami motions Rose to stop using her wind and gives him a sweet smile as he runs out of the room to get the money while the others cheer.

(Whoa, I didn't expect that to actually work! I'd better not cross Nami too much.) The four of them grab their bags of the money as they make their way over to Galley-La.

(Now, what do I know about Galley-La? Iceberg is at the top he used to work with Franky and Tom and helped to build the sea train. Paulie is one of the best shipwrights along with Lucci. Wait… CRAP!) Rose stops causing the others to stop.

"What's up Rose?" Luffy asks

"I need to go check something out. I'll hold the 20 million you guys head over to Galley-La." Rose flew away before any of them could say anything.

"What was that about?" Usopp asked

"Maybe she got hungry." Luffy said

"Not everyone thinks about food!" Usopp says

"It should be fine as long as she doesn't lose the money. Let's hurry over to Galley-La." Nami says as the three walk over to Galley-La.

* * *

Rose flew all over the city searching frantically for Robin. (I can't believe I didn't remember CP9! I should have gone to the city with Robin and Chopper. I hope I'm not too late!) "ROBIN! ROBIN, WHERE ARE YOU?!" She flew street by street in hopes of finding Robin until she spotted her following a man in a mask. She lands on the roof of a nearby building watching them walk.

"Crap, I gotta get her away from him." Rose mutters as she uses her wind to start plucking Robin from the ground but had to put her down immediately because Robin sprouted hands to hold her down to the roof.

"DON'T DO THIS ROBIN! THEY CAN'T BE TRUS- MMPH" Hands started covering her mouth too as she watches the member of CP9 and Robin go past her into the alley. She struggles to get out of her grasp, but it was no good as an air door started forming. She uses her wind to make them pull back and tries to get Robin away again but Robin uses her hands to hold her down tighter until she couldn't focus her abilities anymore.

"Strange winds today. Must be signs of Aqua Laguna." The CP9 member says

"I agree, we should get away from here before the wind gets worse." Robin replies as she walks into the air door.

(No!) Muffled screams were made trying to convince Robin to stop, but she doesn't listen as the door closed behind the two and the arms disappeared. Rose jumps to the ground and tries to go through the door Robin went through but it's gone. "DAMNIT!" Rose punches the wall in frustration.

"Rose-chan, are you alright?" Sanji asks as he approaches her.

"I'm fine Sanji, I just messed up." Rose kept her head down not wanting to look at his face when Sanji embraced her causing her to blush.

"Don't worry, whatever happened it'll be alright." Sanji says with a reassuring smile.

"Th-thanks Sanji." Rose stammers as she gets out of the embrace as quickly as possible.

"What happened? Also, have you seen Robin? I saw her walking here."

"I just saw her but she disappeared. I'm gonna go find her." Rose replies and he nods as she flies to search the streets.

(DAMNIT! Now Robin is in CP9's hands. How else can I mess up? USOPP!) Rose looks down in shock as she finds Usopp beaten to a pulp on the road. She lands right next to him and grabs him by the shoulders. "Usopp, speak to me! What happened?!"

"The Franky family… I-I'm sorry… I lost the money to fix the Merry… I'm so useless…" tears started streaming down Usopp's face as he apologizes repeatedly.

(Usopp… I know the money needs to go to the Franky family but…) Rose grits her teeth in frustration.

"Usopp, you're not useless! You're the best sniper I've ever seen! Don't worry about the money I'm-"

"ROSE, USOPP!" Nami pulls the yagara over in front of them and runs over to the two. Rose keeps her head down, hiding her eyes with her bangs as she gently releases her hold on Usopp and starts making him float, and causing the citizens around them to be shocked.

"Nami, I need you to take Usopp to the ship." Rose puts her hair up as she makes Usopp float to the yagara.

"Wait, what are you going to do?" Nami asks as Rose is walking away.

"I'M GOING TO BEAT THE LIVING CRAP OUT OF THAT FAMILY!" Rose flies away in a rush before anything else could be said.

* * *

Rose flies out to fight against the Franky Family, but she forgot something important. (Wait, where can I find them?) She lands on one of the streets and walks into a shop to ask for directions.

"Excuse me sir, do you know where I can find the Franky Family?"

"You want to find the Franky Family? You can find them on the North East side of the island."

"Thank you." Before she leaves she spots a bow staff in the store.

(A staff? Perfect, I can use this.) Rose lifts the staff and tests the weight and movement with it.

"Sir how much for the staff?"

"Hold on miss, that's not just a staff-"

"I'm sorry, but I'm in a rush. Is this enough?" Rose gives him a hand full of Beli that he happily accepts and nods as she runs out of the  
store.

* * *

Rose flies out to the Franky Family House where she hears a party going on.

"WOW! 200 MILLION, THAT'S JUST WHAT WE NEED!" Franky yells

She glares at the house while she grips her staff. (So Franky hasn't left yet…)

"Rose!" Rose turns around to see Usopp catching up to her.

"What are you doing here Usopp?! I thought Nami took you to the ship."

"I snuck out, I can't let you fight alone for my mistake."

"In that case we're working together, but if it gets too much to handle I'm taking you out of the fight understand?"

Usopp nods as he aims his slingshot at the door. "Usopp Exploding Star!" The door explodes as the two walk in while the boys in the Franky family are shocked.

"Who dares to attack the Franky House?!" One of the guys says as he sees the two of them walking in.

"It's that weakling, and a chick?!" Another member says

"GIVE US BACK THE MONEY!" Usopp yells

"I take it you two are members of the Straw Hats?" Franky asks

"That's right bro, this guy's a weakling!" Another member says causing a gust of wind to send him flying to the ceiling, hitting his head and knocking him out.

"What the? Where did that wind come from?" One of the guys say as they look around confused.

"GIVE IT BACK! WE NEED IT TO FIX OUR SHIP!" Usopp yells as he runs to Franky to grab the money. As the members try to grab him Rose sends them flying then pile drives them to the ground.

"WATCH OUT FOR THE CHICK! SHE'S A DEVIL FRUIT USER!" The guys surround her and send her a barrage of attacks, but she makes each one go through her while sending them flying. Usopp tries to blast Franky with an exploding star but Franky blocks it then he punches Usopp to the ground.

"I can't give you the money, we need it. Your ship must be very important to you if you're willing to go to this length. But, too bad the crew has worthless members like you who can't even-" Before Franky can finish Rose sends him flying hitting his back to the wall with full force.

"BIG BRO!"

"One more word about my friend and I'll make you wish you were all robot you thieving cyborg!" Rose says as the boys keep surrounding her.

"How dare you hit our bro you brat!" The guys keep trying to bring her down while Franky staggers back up and turns to leave with the money.

"I'm impressed you figured me out Freckles, I'll let you two know something. My name is Franky. If you want to leave this city alive then don't agitate me. Guys, I'm leaving them to you." The guys start to grab Usopp as Franky starts walking out the back door.

"LET ME GO! GIVE IT BACK!"

Rose uses her wind to create a whirlwind around her to send the guys flying as she rushes to help Usopp.

"LEAVE HIM ALONE!" Rose summons up powerful wind from her bow staff to push them away from Usopp. "Sorry Usopp, this has gotten to be too much!" Rose uses her wind to push Usopp out of the house.

"HAHA! SMART CHOICE NOT LETTING THE WEAKLING DISTR-" Rose kicks the guy in the nose causing him to fall back before he could finish.

"WIND BLADE!" Rose swung her staff to form a blade of wind that hit some of the guys and broke through their armor causing the family to pale. "My threat didn't only apply to the boss you sons of-" Another guy tries to strike from above with a sword but she blocks the attack with the staff which starts to separate.

(What the? Is it broken?) As she pushes the sword away from her she separates the staff to reveal a blade on each end of the halves.

"What the hell?" in the confusion the guys took it to their advantage by punching her and sending her flying. They catch her and hold her down (Crap!).

"That's an interesting toy you got there kid. Too bad it-"

"GUM GUM PISTOL!" Luffy sends a punch to the guy in front of her knocking him out.

Rose uses the confusion to her advantage by blasting the guys off of her to join Luffy, Sanji, Zoro, and Chopper. "Hey guys glad you made it."

"How are you holding up Rose?" Chopper asks

"I'm good doc I still have some fight in me."

"Good to know." Zoro says as he unsheathes his swords

"The straw hat kid is the captain?! He looks as scrawny as the weakling. How about I give you a free shot?" Luffy used that shot to break through the armor scaring the brothers completely.

"WE GOTTA RUN!" The guys try to run but the crew made sure not one of them escaped.

"WIND BLADE STORM!" Rose used the swords to her advantage to form small wind blades out of them slashing through the armor.

"Since when did you use swords?" Zoro asks as he slashes through one guy after another.

"Since about 10 seconds ago." Rose replies as she sheathes the swords to turn the weapon back into a staff. "I thought it was just a staff, but I'm not complaining." Rose forms a whirlwind from her staff slamming members of the family into the upper wall and then slamming them to the ground.

"H-hold on you guys. This is about the money right? Well, it's not here anymore the wind girl can vouch for that! No matter how much you wreak havoc the money is long go-" Luffy cuts him off with a punch.

"It's not about the money anymore. You guys have really ticked us off. We're going to pulverize you."

The guys try to fight back but the crew was too much for them as they finished beating them to a pulp and destroyed the Franky House. The crew walks away from the rubble to an unconscious Usopp.

"What happened to Usopp?!" Rose asked.

"When you sent him flying out of the house you made him land on his head and knocked him out." Luffy answered.

"Sorry about that. When I can't see where my wind is going it's unpredictable."

"No need to apologize Rose-chan. You were just getting him out of danger." Sanji says as he lights a cigarette. "So, what now? Should we wait for Franky?"

"We wouldn't know when he's coming back." Zoro responds

After Chopper finishes treating Usopp he goes back to heavy point "GUYS COME HELP ME LIFT HIM!"

"We should go back for now." Rose says as the guys nod in agreement and take Usopp to the ship.

* * *

"I'M SO SORRY! WE LOST ALL OF THAT MONEY BECAUSE OF ME!" Usopp yells as he bows his head to the crew.

"Don't worry Usopp, we still have 120 million." Rose says.

"Be glad you're still alive." Sanji says

"We just gotta wait until Franky comes back no big deal." Luffy says

"So, can we still fix the Merry with 120 million?" Usopp asks

"About that. We're getting a new ship." Luffy said causing Usopp to be completely shocked.

"Before you say anything Usopp, you need to know that-"

"Hold on, don't joke around. It's because we don't have enough money anymore is that right?" Usopp cuts Rose off as he's trying to make sense of this.

"No Usopp, that's not the case." Luffy replies

"THEN WHAT IS IT?! TELL ME!"

"IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE MONEY!"

"THEN WHY ARE YOU SPOUTING NONSENSE?!"

"Calm down you guys! Stop yelling, we can talk about this." Zoro says

"Yeah, take it easy let's talk this through." Nami says

"HOW CAN I STAY CALM AFTER HEARING THAT?!" Usopp yells

Luffy couldn't hold back anymore "WE HAD NO CHOICE USOPP! THE MERRY… CAN'T BE FIXED!"

Usopp stares at him in shock as he heard that. "…What are you talking about Luffy?"

"It's the truth Usopp. The shipwrights said it themselves."

"Did you always listen to strangers? THE STRAW HATS I KNEW WOULDN'T GIVE IN TO A MARKETING SCHEME!" Usopp grabs the collar of Luffy's shirt. "DON'T GO SAYING THINGS LIKE YOU'RE A REAL CAPTAIN!"

"I'VE ALREADY MADE MY DECISION! IF YOU DON'T LIKE THE WAY YOUR CAPTAIN RUNS THINGS THEN JUST-" Before Luffy could finish Rose uses her wind to separate the two of them to the opposite sides of the room.

"BOTH OF YOU SHUT UP AND CALM DOWN! LUFFY, NEVER FINISH THAT SENTENCE UNLESS YOU'RE WILLING TO FACE THE CONSEQUENCES! USOPP, IF LUFFY HAD ANOTHER CHOICE YOU KNOW HE WOULD HAVE TAKEN IT!"

Both guys pant from arguing, Luffy was the first to speak. "Usopp, I'm sorry I didn't mean-"

"No, it's ok Luffy. I know what you were going to say, you were just saying how you feel right?"

"What was that?!"

"If you want to leave this ship behind then you might as well leave me behind too. I'm not strong like you guys, I know that I can't catch up. I can't even hold on to a couple of bags who knows what would happen in the future? I will only lead to more problems."

"Usopp, that's not true you belong here." Rose says but he ignores her.

"You want to be the pirate king Luffy, but I don't want to go that far. We should go our separate ways." Usopp walks out to leaves the boat with the others following.

"USOPP WAIT! WE CAN WORK THIS OUT!" Rose yells

"WHERE ARE YOU GOING USOPP?!" Sanji yells

"I'm going wherever I want to because… I QUIT THE CREW!"

TO BE CONTINUED


	7. Chapter 7

Usopp walks further away from the ship while ignoring the pleas of his former crew mates.

"USOPP! LET'S TALK ABOUT THIS!" Nami yells.

"COME BACK USOPP!" Sanji yells

"DON'T LEAVE USOPP!" Chopper cries while Rose, Zoro and Luffy stay quiet.

He stops 10 feet away from the ship before turning back and glaring at Luffy. "I can't be with you guys anymore. The ship belongs to the captain, so fight me Luffy! If I win I'm taking the Merry with me! I CHALLENGE YOU TO A DUEL AT 10:00 TONIGHT! AFTER THE FIGHT IT'S OVER BETWEEN US!"

Usopp runs back to the city to get preparations done while Chopper leaves the ship to go after him. Luffy heads to the Men's quarters with Nami trying to convince him to stop the fight while Sanji and Zoro head into the kitchen. Rose stays outside and flies up to the crow's nest.

"What the hell am I doing?" Rose mutters as she sits down on the crow's nest and holds the crystal in her necklace. (DAMNIT! Not only couldn't I stop Robin, but Usopp still left the crew! I know things work out but can't I do anything to help?! …Maybe, I shouldn't mess with the story line… But, if that's the case then what about the battle of- I'll cross THAT bridge when I get there... *sigh* At least for now I'll try not to mess with the story line too much. I need to talk to Robin to at least get some doubt in her head. If I talk to her now she'll just put me in a hold maybe tomorrow I can-)

"IT'S YOUR FAULT USOPP LEFT MOSS HEAD!"

"WHAT WERE YOU DOING WHEN I WAS TAKING CARE OF THEM LOVE COOK?!"

Rose was dragged out of her thoughts by Sanji and Zoro's argument. "At least I can stop these idiots from arguing." she mutters as she flies into the kitchen. "I'M NOT AFRAID TO SEPARATE YOU GUYS LIKE I DID USOPP AND LUFFY BUT I PROMISE I WON'T BE GENTLE!" Both guys freeze when they hear Rose.

"But Rose-chan, it's all moss head's fault!" Sanji says

"She's right Sanji, there's no point in arguing about it." Nami says as she and Chopper walk in.

"I thought you went after Usopp?" Zoro says to Chopper

" … I tried to finish his treatment, but he sent me back and said 'you and me are finished!'" Tears are streaming down Choppers face causing Rose to get on her knees to hug him.

"Things are going to be alright Chopper. I promise everything will work out in the end we just need to endure tonight. Can you do that with me?" Rose whispers to him while rubbing circles in his back. He nods and hugs her back.

"Everyone was so happy this morning… And we still don't know where Robin is…" Nami says while the others remain silent.

(I'm sorry everyone… If I told you about Robin now you would spring into action, but I can't mess things up again.) Rose looks down in guilt.

"Its 10:00 Usopp's coming." Zoro says as he and the others walk outside to see Luffy ready to face Usopp.

"None of you come down!" Luffy says to the crew then turns to Usopp. "I hope you don't regret your decision Usopp!"

"Don't think I'm like your previous enemies! I know you inside and out! And I have 8000 followers ready to fight! Surrender or die!"

"I know you're lying Usopp!"

"THEN EAT THIS!" The fight commenced with Usopp pulling every trick in the book from pretending to be vulnerable to catch him off guard to shooting shuriken, all the while spreading smoke onto the battle field in order to power up his exploding star.

"Usopp is… so fast" Chopper says as he watches the fight.

"I don't like this." Nami says

"You and me both Nami…" Rose pats the head of the Merry. (I know you don't like this either Merry, I'm sorry…)

"GUM GUM PISTOL!" Luffy delivers the final blow to the fight by punching Usopp and knocking him down.

"It's over." Zoro says

(Luffy… Usopp…) Tears start streaming down Roses face as she watches the end of the fight.

"Do what you want with the Merry. We're going on ahead… Goodbye Usopp, it's been fun." Luffy starts walking to the crew with his straw hat hiding his face "Everyone, grab your things. We're leaving tonight!"

Everyone was quiet when they packed allowing most of the crew members tears to fall freely for the loss of their nakamas.

* * *

 _"What are you doing Rosie?" 12 year old Laura asks her 11 year old foster sister Rose who's doing research on the computer._

 _"I'm studying up on some comets along with the Timore comet."_

 _"You mean that made up comet that your parents were trying to prove real?"_

 _"It's not made up! It can go to other dimensions, so it's hard to trace."_

 _"HA! Man, are you sure your parents were really college professors?" Marie adds in as she walks in the room with Rose glaring at her._

 _"What was that?"_

 _"I mean come on, a comet that can go to other worlds not to mention could take you to one sounds as believable as those Chinese cartoons you watch existing."_

 _"Anime is Japanese! Anyway, I know it's hard to swallow but it's the truth! One day, I'm going to prove that it's real!"_

 _"HAHA! Why don't you just quit that weird stuff and focus on more important things? Like making yourself look like a girl." Laura says_

 _"If looking like a girl means dressing like a hooker then no thanks." Rose turns her attention back to her research not seeing the anger on the twins' faces._

 _Both girls pulled her out of her chair and threw her onto the floor. "If that's how you feel why not let us take this then?" Marie grabbed Roses necklace which earned her a punch in the nose from Rose as she took the necklace back._

 _"NEVER TOUCH THIS NECKLACE!" Rose yells as the three of them started fighting. Both twins clawed at her arms while Rose whacked them in the nose and gave them a fair amount of hits._

 _"BREAK IT UP!" Rick yelled causing all three girls to stop. "Marie, Laura are you girls alright?"_

 _"WAAH! Our noses hurt!" Laura cries as she and Marie cling onto their father._

 _"We were just giving Rosie beauty tips, but she attacked us!" Marie says_

 _"Rose, why can't you get along?" Rick asks_

 _Rose glares at the twins for making up lies. "SHE'S LYING! I was minding my own business when they started insulting my family's research!"_

 _"Do you mean that nonsense about a comet?" Rick gives an exasperated sigh, lets go of the girls then walks up to her and smacks her across the face. "Listen you brat, I don't care if you believe in fake comets or whatever, but you're not allowed to put those ridiculous ideas into my angels' heads. Now, go to your room and don't come out for the rest of the day!"_

 _Rose went to her room while holding onto her necklace. (I don't care what they say, I'm not giving up until I leave this world!) She sat down hugging her knees while tears streamed down her face._

* * *

Rose woke up from the bad memory in the middle of the night at the inn the crew checked into after leaving the ship. (I can't get a break tonight... Of all the things I could forget why couldn't I forget about them?)

She got up and started to walk up to the roof where Zoro and Chopper are fast asleep. (Poor guys… Where's Luffy?)

She looks to see Luffy sitting on the roof of another building depressed. (Luffy… I can't mope anymore! I gotta do something to make him feel better.)

Rose looks around for an idea until one hits her. She flies over to Luffy's side with a smile on her face and turns to the city. "Now let's see, if I jump from there I could, or those rooftops could be more fun or maybe-"

"What are you doing Rose?" Luffy doesn't move from his spot nor turns to her when he spoke up.

"Oh, hi Luffy! Sorry if I was bothering you. I was just figuring out the best way to go roof jumping."

Luffy turns to her with curiosity. "Roof jumping?"

"Yea, you see I'm from a large city. Not as cool as this one but, anyway one of the things I've always wanted to do was roof jump as a way to travel. Since I have devil fruit powers now tonight is the perfect opportunity to fulfill that dream. You're welcome to join me if you want."

Excitement starts to show in his eyes but he starts to look down again. "I don't know…"

"How about this? We race to the top of Water Seven and the winner gets the last piece of Water Seven meat I've saved up."

"I'M IN!" Luffy jumps up with excitement and gets ready.

(Perfect!) "Alright, we're free to use any route we want as long as it gets to the top. Of course, devil fruit powers are allowed as well but I have to hold back on flying. You understand the rules?"

"YOSH! LET'S GO! GUM GUM ROCKET!" He pulls his arms and sends himself flying from one roof to another with Rose in pursuit.

"I DIDN'T SAY IT WAS ALRIGHT TO START YET CHEATER!" Rose uses her wind to jump from building to building while Luffy uses his arms to catapult himself across the city.

"ALL'S FAIR IN MEAT AND FISH!"

"DO YOU ONLY HAVE FOOD AND FIGHTING IN THAT BRAIN OF YOURS?! I SAID ALL'S FAIR IN LOVE AND WAR!"

"OH! WELL THAT TOO!" Luffy yells as he sticks his tongue out at her but collides with a wall and starts falling off the building. Rose sends him flying up in the air as she passes him then puts him down to go after her.

"THAT'S CHEATING!" Luffy jumps from roof to roof in a rush to catch up with Rose as she jumps from roof to roof with ease.

"ALL'S FAIR IN MEAT AND FISH RIGHT?!" Rose sticks her tongue at him and gives him a mock salute as she jumps from roof to roof with Luffy in pursuit. (This is so fun! So this is what it's like to roof jump like a leaf ninja. I'm so glad this idea is working!)

The top of the city was getting closer for the two crewmembers. They're coming to the top from different sides of the city and at each other full speed causing them to not be able to stop when they reached the goal point and ended up colliding with each other. Rose landed on top of Luffy and accidentally landed her lips onto his causing her eyes to be as wide as plates. She immediately gets off of him and turns away from him with her face as red as a tomato while Luffy sat up confused while touching his lips where she kissed him.

She looked at the ground while trying to reduce the blush. (WHAT THE HELL?! WHAT IS THIS, OURAN HOST CLUB?!)

"What was that?" Luffy asked still confused.

She still doesn't look at him while answering. "You know what a kiss is right?"

"Was that what we just did?"

She calmed down and turned to look at him "Yea, that was it… I'm sorry about that, it was an accident."

"Don't be. I had fun!"

(I doubt he meant the kiss was fun.) "You're right; the roof jumping was pretty awesome."

"The kiss was pretty fun too! Anyway, who won?"

Rose looks at him with shock (HE LIKED IT?! I admit it was a good kiss but- Wait, I liked it too?!)

"Rose, wake up!" She snaps out of it to the sound of Luffy's voice.

"Sorry for spacing out. Anyway I think you won. You can have it."

"AWESOME! We should get back. The sun is starting to come out."

"Yea, you're right. We should do this again sometime." Rose freezes and starts blushing again. "I mean, we should race again! Not that I didn't like the kiss. I really did, I mean-"

"SHISHISHI! You're pretty funny Rose! We'll do it again before leaving. Thanks for convincing me to join you, I needed this." He gives her one of his toothy grins but there was still some sadness in it.

Her face softens when she sees his expression. "Luffy...*sigh* Anytime. You know, I've seen a lot of friendships that are just as strong as yours and Usopp's who went through even worse fights than that and still kept their friendships alive. I feel no, I know that once Usopp calms down he'll start reconsidering his choice. He'll come back, we just gotta be patient." She pats him on the shoulder with a assuring smile that shocks him then he looks down and hides his eyes with his hat.

"I hope so… Thank you…" He grabs her arm and locks her in an embrace.

"L-luffy?" She freezes when she starts to feel tears hitting her shirt. (Luffy…) She returns the hug and pats him on his back while letting him cry in peace.

* * *

Sanji walks up to the roof of the inn to find Zoro and Chopper awake. "I guess you guys couldn't sleep either… Where's Luffy?"

"He went on a date with Rose." Zoro said with a mischievous smirk.

"Haha, very funny moss head, but really where is he?"

"Last night we woke up and saw Luffy and Rose go roof jumping." Chopper says

"WHAT?!" Sanji yells with his face in complete shock.

"Morning guys, are you ok Sanji?" Rose says as she and Luffy land on the roof.

"So Rose, how did the date go?" Zoro said keeping his smirk on causing Roses eyes to widen.

"There was no date, we just raced! How did you know about it anyway?! You were sleeping!"

"Zoro and I woke up to you guys talking and saw you convince him to go out with you." Chopper says while Sanji starts crying comical tears and Luffy looks at the scene with confusion.

Rose rubs the bridge of her nose and gives an exasperated sigh "Like I said, it wasn't a date. We just raced."

"I don't know what a date is, but the race was pretty awesome! We even ki-" Rose covered Luffy's mouth before he could finish while a blush crept on her face.

"They don't need to know about that Luffy!" Roses reaction causes Zoro to become curious while Chopper looks to the scene with confusion and Sanji starts flaming up.

"LUFFY! WHAT DID YOU DO TO-"

"DID YOU GO TO THE PENINSULA SANJI?" Rose yells eager to change the subject as she lets go of Luffy.

"How did you-? Yea, I went there to see if Robin would come back but she didn't. I'm going to the streets to find her."

"I wanna go too." Chopper says

Rose looks at the city in thought. (Hmm… If I go with them Robin would just stop me. I need to be alone when I talk to her, so maybe for now I'll check out CP9.)

"GUYS!" Nami yells as she runs up to the roof. "LAST NIGHT ICEBERG WAS SHOT!"

"WHAT?!" Luffy yells in surprise.

"Who's Iceberg?" Sanji asks

"He's the head of Galley-La and the Mayor of Water Seven." Nami responds

"I'll go look!" Luffy says as he jumps down from the roof.

"I'm coming too!" Nami says

"I'll go with you guys." Rose says as she uses her wind to take Nami and herself from the roof to where Luffy is. Nami and Luffy take the yagara to Galley-La while Rose flies after them. They get over to Galley-La where the place is swarming with concerned citizens.

"Whoa, there's so many people. Hey Rose, can you fly us over to the shipyard?" Nami asks

"Not a prob-" Before Rose can finish Franky's theme song starts playing. (Time for Franky to come huh?)

"What's going on?" Luffy says as he looks up to see Franky with his sisters dancing behind a curtain.

Rose sighs as she puts her hair up. "Luffy, I hope you're ready to fight because Franky's here."

"WHAT?!"

"Did someone just say my name? I know you're there Straw Hat! Get ready to face the most SUUUPEER man in Water Seven. FRANKY!" Franky makes his signature pose as he reveals himself.

"OI, PANTY GUY! I'M LUFFY!" He yells out to Franky getting his attention.

"You're Luffy? I see you brought freckles along too. While I was away you kids made a real mess at my place. You even beat up my men! I'm SUPER pissed off right now."

"WHERE'S THE MONEY?!" Nami yells out

"I SPENT IT! PIRATES SHOULDN'T BE DEMANDING MONEY BACK AFTER IT'S BEEN STOLEN!"

"THAT DOESN'T MATTER! I'M NOT GOING TO BE HAPPY UNTIL I KICK YOUR ASS!" Luffy yells in fury.

"I'M THE ONE WHO'S GONNA KICK YOUR ASS STRAW HAT!" Franky takes in a deep breath while the crowd starts running away.

(Uh oh!) Rose uses her wind to pick up Nami and Luffy to get them out of the way from Franky's fire breath.

"WHOA, HE BREATHES FIRE?!" Luffy yells completely surprised

"Is he a devil fruit user?!" Nami asks

"No, he's a cyborg!" Rose says as she lands the three of them on the street.

"RIGHT YOU ARE FRECKLES!" Franky yells as he lands in front of them. "NOW, TASTE MY STRONG RIGHT!" he launches his attack at Luffy but Rose pulls him out of the way on time.

"Thanks Rose, I'll take it from here." Luffy says as he faces Franky. Rose nods in agreement and steps back.

"SEND THAT PERVERT FLYING LUFFY!" Nami yells in the sidelines while Rose stays quiet to watch the fight. The guys fight with one blow after another both wearing each other out until a member of Galley-La attacks Franky.

"What are you doing here Straw Hat?" Paulie says as he, and the Galley-La guys walk into the scene with completely pissed off expressions on their faces.

(So, Lucci and Kaku are here. I better get ready.) Rose brings out her bo staff as she watches the scene unfold.

"HOW DARE YOU SHOW YOUR FACE HERE AFTER WHAT YOU DID?!" Paulie yells out in fury.

"I DIDN'T DO ANYTHING!" Luffy yells

"If you're gonna bluff then I might as well tie you down! ROPE ACTION HALF KNOT"

"WIND BLADE!" The Galley-La guys look to Rose with shock as she cuts the rope with her wind before it could hit Luffy. "You shouldn't be ganging up on people Paulie." She heads to Luffy's side and helps him to dodge their attacks while sending them flying away from them.

Kaku tries to throw his chisels at her, but they went through her. "So, they have a logia devil fruit user on their side."

"YOU ASSHOLES! DON'T MESS WITH OUR FIGHT!" Franky yells as he gets his arm out "WEAPONS LEFT!" He shoots bullets out of his arm at the shipwrights but they dodge and knock him out.

Lucci comes at Rose and Luffy with one of his six powers but Rose barely managed to block the attack with a wind blast and send him flying at the other shipwrights. (So Lucci is this strong…) "You alright Luffy?"

"Yea, thanks for the help. WHAT THE HELL'S GOING ON?! AT LEAST GIVE ME A REASON!" Luffy yells over to Paulie.

"WE'RE THE ONE'S WHO SHOULD BE ASKING THAT! WHY DID YOU SHOOT ICEBERG LAST NIGHT?!" Paulies declaration startled the citizens around them.

Luffy and Nami are shocked at the accusation. "WE DIDN'T SHOOT ICE-POPS!"

"DON'T LIE! ICEBERG RECOGNIZED ONE OF THE SHOOTERS TO BE ONE OF YOUR CREWMEMBERS: NICO ROBIN!" The declaration shocks Luffy and Nami.

Rose made Luffy duck as Kaku threw more chisels at them. "Pirates aren't going to be protected by the law. Whatever punishment you receive you can't complain." Kaku says as he draws more of his tools out.

"I know the law can't protect us. BUT, ROBIN'S NOT LIKE THAT! DON'T TALK ABOUT HER LIKE YOU KNOW HER! LET ME TALK TO ICE-POPS, ROBIN COULDN'T HAVE DONE THIS!" Luffy yells as he and Rose get up.

"There's no way we're letting you get close to Iceberg!" Lulu says as he and the others get his saws out and the crowd starts surrounding the three of them.

"ROBIN DOESN'T HAVE ANY REASON TO ATTACK HIM!" Nami yells

"I don't care how much you complain you three are finished. Messing with Iceberg means messing with the entire city." Paulie says as he gets his ropes ready.

"JUST LET ME TALK TO ICE-POPS!" Luffy yells

"Not a chance!" Paulie tries to use his rope again but Rose redirects the rope with her wind.

"Impressive devil fruit power kid. Why aren't you going on the offense?" Paulie asks

"There's no reason to be fighting you. We weren't the ones that shot him. Luffy, I'm getting us out of here." Rose starts flying with Luffy and Nami but Lucci jumps in the air and punches her to the ground causing all three of them out of the air. "ROSE!" Nami and Luffy yell in worry while she staggers back up.

"Coo~ Don't think it's that easy to get away from us." Hattori chirps for Lucci as he and the other shipwrights continually attack her and Luffy while Nami was being held back by the citizens.

(So, Lucci and Kaku are this strong. This is nuts…) Rose dodges Lulu and Tilestone's attack when Kaku threw his chisels again but this time they hit Luffy and pin him to the wall. "Hang on Luffy!" Rose tries to pull the tools out but there wasn't enough time as Tilestone shot a cannon at them. "WIND BARRIER!" Rose uses her barrier in order to protect herself and Luffy when Franky steps in.

"I'VE HAD ENOUGH OF THIS CRAP! QUIT TAKING MY PREY GALLEY-LA! I'LL SHOW YOU WHAT IT MEANS TO MESS WITH FRANKY!" Franky puts his arms together and aims his arms at the shipwrights. "COUP DE VENT!" he launched his Coup De Vent causing plenty of damage to the shipyard as well as an opening for Rose to get the three of them out of there and safely seated on one of the rooftops.

"Are you two alright?" Rose asks

"Better question would be are you alright? Lucci hit you pretty hard." Nami says

"Don't worry about me it's just a scratch." Rose says with a smile as the wind gets rougher.

"Then why is your wind acting up?! We should get you to Chopper!" Luffy says with worry.

"This wind isn't mine, it's Aqua Laguna's."

"Aqua what?" Luffy asks

"Aqua Laguna. It's a typhoon that comes here once a year. Anyway, Iceberg's mansion is up ahead if you want to talk to him Luffy now's the best time." Rose says as she stands up.

"Good idea, you two stay here I'm going in." Luffy says as he breaks into the mansion alone.

(So that was a fraction of CP9's power... Enies Lobby is going to be some fight. Now's the time to go talk to Robin. ) Rose turns away from Nami and starts flying. "Nami, I need to go out for a bit. Tell Luffy I'll be back later."

"ROSE, WAIT!" Rose doesn't listen to Nami's yells as she flies away.

"Geez, neither of those two can stay still…" Nami says as she stays on the rooftop.

* * *

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU'RE LEAVING ROBIN-CHAN?! IF IT'S ABOUT THE ACCUSATIONS DON'T WORRY WE DON'T BELIEVE IT!" Sanji yells as he and Chopper are at the other side of the canal from where Robin is and is trying to make sense of what she's saying.

"You guys are innocent, but for me it's the truth. I'm the one that shot Iceberg. You guys are going to be my scapegoats for the incident." Robin says with a cold face.

"WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT ROBIN?! PLEASE, LET'S GO BACK TOGETHER!" Chopper yells

"Thanks for letting me stay with you guys. Goodbye." Robin says as she walks away with Sanji trying to swim after her.

Robin walks a fair distance away from Sanji and Chopper knowing that they can't catch up to her.

"You're really leaving without saying goodbye Robin?" Robin turns around in shock to see Rose walking out of the alleyway she passed.

Robin quickly regains her composure and glares at her. "I take it you're going to try to convince me as well?"

"Correct. Please don't do this to yourself Robin, CP9 can't-" Before Rose could finish she was pinned to the wall with Robins arms to the point where the only part of her body that's free was her head.

"I'm surprised you didn't try to pluck me with your wind again."

"It would've just resulted in this happening again, so there wouldn't be a point in trying. I just want to talk."

"Good, because I want to talk to you as well."

"I take it you're not gonna let me out of this hold for our conversation?"

"Correct. Now, for my question: how much do you know about me?"

(This is a gamble, but I'll try it…) "*Sigh* I know about Ohara…" Rose felt the arms tighten when she mentioned Robin's home island. "I know the truth about why they destroyed the island. I KNOW YOU'RE NOT A CURSE LIKE EVERYONE THINKS YOU ARE!"

"THAT'S WHERE YOU'RE WRONG!" Robin starts breaking her composure as she tightens her hold on Rose. "Who are you really Rose? Are you a part of the World Government or the Revolutionary Army?!"

"I'M NEITHER ROBIN! I'm the Straw Hat Pirates' astronomer, nothing more. UGH!" The pain gets worse under Robin's hold.

"If you want to keep quiet about who you are that's fine. I have time to force it out of you before leaving."

"If you're gonna kill me, fine! But at least let me say my last words!" Rose says with a fierce look in her eye, Robin's eyes widen but she nods and loosens the hold a little.

"You can't leave the crew without Luffy's permission. The others are going to know about your true intentions for leaving one way or another. And once they do they're going to stop at nothing to bring you back with them. Please, keep your promise Robin. You're no curse to the world, you're a Straw Hat Pirate." Rose finishes with a smile but that smile was short lived as the grip starts to crush her, she screams in pain while fighting back the tears. She uses her wind to slam Robin to a pillar making her lose her grip on her and drops to the ground as she releases her wind hold on Robin.

"WHO'S OVER THERE?!" One of the members of Galley La yelled out in the distance. Both girls can hear them coming this way. Robin regains her composure and pins Rose to the wall again while she's recovering and forces her to face her.

"I'll leave you to the mob Rose, but I have something to say as well. If you so much as harm one of the Straw Hats I'll be sure to send CP9 to tear you limb from limb in sea stone cuffs!" Robin releases her hold on Rose to let her fall to the ground again while running away before the mob starts approaching. Rose tries to get up while catching her breath when some of the shipwrights approach her.

"IT'S THE WIND GIRL!" The shipwrights try to grab her but she pushes them away with a wind blast then flies onto the roof and tries to roof jump with as little wind as possible in order to lose them. She lands in an alleyway while the shipwrights run in a different direction thinking she went that way.

"Well, that could have gone better…" Rose mutters as she slumps down from exhaustion. (I can't believe she forced the air out of a person that's made of wind… I need to work on my logia abilities... The talk worked though.) Rose remembers Robin's threat. ("If you harm one of the Straw Hats I'll send CP9 after you!" She's starting to show her true colors, I gotta get to the others.)

She staggers up, checks to see if the coast is clear then flies up to the roof and lightly roof jumps in search of the others.

TO BE CONTINUED


	8. Chapter 8

The sun has begun to set on Water Seven with the Galley-La shipwrights continuing their chase for the Straw Hats. They're currently searching the rooftops and streets after they spotted Rose roof jumping to the plaza.

"Oi, Kaku! Do you see the wind girl anywhere?" One of the shipwrights on the streets yells up to him.

"No, she could be hiding on anyone of these rooftops. Don't worry everyone, we'll find them. For now though we should get going we have to make sure Iceberg is safe from the pirates." Kaku jumps from the roof to join the mob who nods in agreement and starts leaving the plaza.

Up above the plaza in one of the clouds Rose watches the mob leave while focusing on her abilities to keep herself hidden from the outside world. (About time those guys left. How many times have they chased me already? Oh well, at least now I can find the others without worrying about them. If I recall right, they'll be waiting over at HQ for Robin to show up. I should start heading there too.)

She starts to cautiously travel through the air in her cloud to try to avoid the shipwrights and the storm clouds from Aqua Laguna.

* * *

(How did Rose find out about CP9? Did she really find out my reason for doing this? I can't let my efforts get wast-)

"Robin!" Robin snaps out of her thoughts and turns to the masked CP9 agent who was holding a den den mushi and waiting to start the assassination. "I hope you're not getting second thoughts about the operation Robin."

"Of course not, I'm ready when you are."

The den den mushi responds "Good, then I'm going to start. Once you get the signal proceed as planned." The den den mushi hangs up and an explosion erupts at Galley-La causing the shipwrights to start panicking.

"Let's go." The CP9 agent and Robin jump into the chaos to sneak into headquarters while at the other side of the grounds a CP9 agent in a musketeer mask with a thorn whip starts running around. The shipwrights try to attack, but the agent was too fast for them. The agent used the whip to get on the roof where the shipwrights were ready for an ambush.

"Did you really think we wouldn't be waiting on the roof too?" One of the shipwrights says as he and the others got their saws ready

The agent steps to them with the whip out. "Give it up. You're no match for me."

"Like hell we'll give up!" The shipwrights start to charge but a gust of wind blows them off the roof and safely onto the ground before they got hurt. The surprised shipwrights look up to see Rose land on the roof with her staff ready in front of the agent.

(Man, I can't remember where the guys go to get in the building... If I go in now I might ruin Robin's chance to talk about her intentions. At least for now I can lower the damage that CP9 causes while pissing them off a bit.) "How about you pick on somebody your own size CP9?"

The agent's eyes widen and got into a stance. "You must be the logia user I heard about. I didn't think you would be stupid enough to face me head on but as you wish."

She jumps onto the air and tries to use the whip to attack her but Rose uses her logia abilities to make it go through her. Rose charges in the air to attack but the agent quickly jumped to the roof with her pursuing.

Rose smirks and she flies full speed to slam her staff against the agents head but was blocked by the agent's tekkai and she used her logia abilities to make the incoming finger pistol go through her. She speaks softly so only the agent can hear. "Not bad Kalifa, think you can beat me in a sky battle?"

Kalifa's eyes widened when she heard her name. "I hope you're ready to die logia user. Also, that's sexual harassment."

Rose sweat drops at the statement (That's Kalifa alright…) She snaps out of her thoughts when Kalifa air jumped away from her and went behind her to kick her. She ducks from the kick and uses her wind to slam her to a nearby building.

"As much as I enjoy the title 'logia user' I do have a name: Catone Rose. Now then, why don't you let Robin go and we can forget about thi-" Rose gets cut off when Kalifa air jumps in front of her and tries to kick her in the head but she maneuvers out of the way and summons a wind blade at her but she blocks it and lands on the roof.

"I can't let that happen. But, I'll give you a counteroffer we keep Robin and we'll take your head with us!" Kalifa launches her thorn whip at her but dodges and continues to go toe to toe with Kalifa in the air.

Lulu and the shipwrights were completely shocked as they watch the air battle above them. They can't hear any part of the conversation due to the wind but are able to see the fight from the ground.

One of the shipwrights turns to Lulu in confusion. "I don't get it sir. Isn't the person with the thorn whip on the pirates' side? Why are they fighting?"

"I don't know. It's probably some inner quarrel. Let's get them while they're distracted!"

The shipwrights yelled in agreement and got their cannons and nail guns ready to fire at Rose and Kalifa. "FIRE!" The shots were fires, gaining the girls' attention away from their fight to dodge and block the shots.

Kalifa lands on the roof then turns to the shipwrights "How silly of me. I almost forgot my main objective. I'll be right back Ms. Catone Rose." She launches an attack with her thorn whip at the shipwrights but Rose goes in between the shipwrights and the whip.

"Twister Kick!" Rose turned her right leg into a twister and kicked away the whip and extended the tornado far enough to hit Kalifa and slam her to the building. "DON'T IGNORE YOUR OPPONENT!" Rose was about to attack again but Lulu and the shipwrights kept shooting through Rose causing her to get irritated. "WILL YOU GUYS GO AWAY?! YOU'RE NOT HELPING ICEBERG HERE LUL-" Kalifa air jumps besides her and kicks her side sending her flying through a window into an empty room in Galley-La headquarters.

Rose slowly sat up massaging her aching head then wincing to the pain in her side. (Ugh, that jerk really packs a kick. At least the shipwrights didn't get hurt… The other agents could be confronting Iceberg by now I should get going.)

Rose slowly forces herself up and opens the door to the hallway to reveal an army of blinks in surprise then groans in frustration. "Oh, for crying out- If I ask nicely will you please leave me alone?"

"HELL NO!" The shipwrights all charge at her.

(Crap, these guys won't quit… Looks like I have no choice.) Rose forces as much wind as she could create to pin the shipwrights to the wall as she runs away while ignoring the pain from her injuries.

* * *

"ROBIN! IF YOU WANT TO LEAVE THE CREW THEN AT LEAST TELL US WHY!" Luffy yells as he, Zoro, Nami and Chopper confront Robin and CP9 while protecting Paulie and Iceberg.

(She didn't tell them? Perfect!) Robin gives a cold stare as she replies "I already told the chef and doctor goodbye. Isn't that enough?"

"NO IT'S NOT! ROBIN PLEASE TELL US!" Chopper yells while fighting back the tears.

"Fine, it's in order to achieve my goal. A goal that can't be achieved if I stay with you. I'm willing to sacrifice anything for it!"

"AND YOU THINK LEAVING WITH WORLD GOVERNMENT ASSHATS CAN ACHIEVE YOUR GOAL?!" Everyone turns to the doorway in shock to find Rose panting. "CP9 CAN'T GRANT YOUR WISH ROBIN!"

Robin starts biting her lip. (Crap! I can't let her ruin this.) "Just shut up Rose! I won't hesitate to kill you if you interfere!" Rose jumped once she saw Robins arms about to pin her only to be confronted by Lucci and kicked in the gut to send her flying.

Before she hits the wall Luffy stretches his arm to pull her to his side. "ROSE! Are you ok?! Where have you been?!"

Rose stands herself up while brushing herself off. "Y-yea I'm fine. I'll explain what happened later, but right now we can't let her leave."

Lucci starts walking away from them "Sorry to cut the drama but we need to be taking our leave. Kalifa is it ready?"

"Yes. It should be going off in two minutes."

"Good. Sorry to say Straw Hats, but in two minutes the place will be in flames so I recommend leaving... If you can." Kaku, Blueno, and Kalifa step in front of Robin and Lucci ready to fight.

Zoro starts to unsheathe his swords "Seems like they're ready to fight. Luffy, are you ok with Robin leaving?"

"HELL NO!"

Robin turns to leave "I'm going to leave before I deal with this nonsense any further." Lucci nods in agreement.

"ROBIN STOP!" Luffy runs to Robin only to be blocked by Blueno.

"Sorry, but you're not to interfere." After using tekkai to block Blueno air jumps out of the way for Kaku and Kalifa to use their tempest kicks but before they can hit him Rose pushes him down with her wind to dodge.

"EVERYBODY GET DOWN!" Zoro yells when he sees the kick heading for them causing everyone to duck.

"You guys alright?!" Nami says as everyone gets up and nods.

Robin opens the window about to leave. Rose tries to pull Robin back with her wind but Kalifa confronts her. "How about we finish where we left off?" She launches a finger pistol at Rose only for it to go through her while slamming Kalifa to the wall.

Rose tries to refocus her attention to Robin but Kalifa immediately recovers and continues to attack her. (Crap! I don't know how much longer I can keep this up.) Rose slams Kalifa to the wall again and focuses her wind to keep her down. "ROBIN! NO MATTER WHAT YOU SAY WE'RE NOT GIVING UP! STOP MAKING IT HARD ON YOURSELF!"

Robin turns to her and the others at the windowsill. "You're not very bright are you? No matter, this is the last we'll be seeing each other goodbye."

"ROBIN!" Luffy yells as he runs to catch her only to be caught by Lucci.

"Go now, Nico Robin." Robin nods to Lucci's command and jumps out the window. Rose tries to focus on her wind to pull her back but it was too late.

"You know it's not wise to turn your attention away from the enemy. You're a lot more dangerous than I thought, so it's best if you leave." Rose realizes she accidentally released her hold on Kalifa when she turned to her only to be kicked in the stomach and sent flying through the window and out of headquarters.

* * *

Before Rose crashed on one of the buildings in the far backstreets of Water Seven she used her wind to cushion her fall and laid on the ground. "CRAP!" she winces at the pain in her torso. (Man, this sucks... Wait! Oh shit! Luffy and Zoro!) She gets up as quickly as she could and flies to one of the roof tops to find Luffy and Zoro flying in the air thanks to Lucci. "HANG ON GUYS!" She musters up as much wind as she could to catch Zoro and Luffy before they got stuck in buildings and dropped them in front of her before falling to her knees.

"ROSE! ARE YOU OKAY?!" Luffy yells as he and Zoro approach her.

"D-don't worry so much guys. I'm fine…" Rose lies as she shifts her eyes everywhere.

Zoro gets irritated at the obvious lie. "BULLSHIT! You're in a worse condition than we are! What have you been doing?!"

Rose looks down before speaking. "Earlier today, I spoke to Robin…"

Both guys widen their eyes in shock. Luffy knelt down to her eye level and grabbed her shoulders. "You did what?! What happened?! Did she do anything to you?!"

Rose grits her teeth before looking Luffy in the eye. "Robin's not a bad person! She turned herself in to keep us safe!"

Zoro was the first to speak from the shock "She did what?!"

"Those World Government assholes threatened us with a Buster Call and Robin sacrificed herself to protect us! That outburst from earlier was so I wouldn't tell you guys! We gotta get her back!"

Luffy froze for a second while his eyes hid behind his hat. "So that's how it is." He picks her up gently over his shoulder with her facing behind him then stands up. "Zoro, let's go get Nami and Chopper. WE'RE GONNA BEAT THE CRAP OUT OF THOSE ASSASSINS!"

Zoro nods in agreement with a smirk on his face as he and Luffy make a run for it.

A blush creeps on Roses face when she realizes the position she's in and tries to get down, but Luffy keeps a hold on her. "I can run too Luffy! Put me down!"

"You can't run in your condition! We're getting you to Chopper while we're catching up to Robin!"

"But-"

Zoro steps into the argument. "No point in arguing Rose. You did enough, so let us take it from here. Or would you rather I carry you?" Zoro chuckles a bit at her quickly shaking her head before turning into an alleyway away from them.

Rose watches what happened in shock "THAT'S THE WRONG WAY ZORO!" Zoro stops himself and catches up with them "Luffy, please carry Zoro instead…"

"No way! Besides, I like carrying you, so take it easy until we get to Chopper."

Roses blush doubles after hearing him say that. (What the hell is with this guy?! Why does he keep saying weird stuff like that?! Wh-) Rose stops her train of thought when she spots a giant wave from Aqua Laguna heading their way. "Luffy… Do you remember how to roof jump?" Luffy nods. "Good, I need you to catapult the three of us to the rooftops and QUICK!"

Both guys turn their heads to find out what she's talking about and quickly understand when Luffy wraps an arm around Zoro and sends all three of them in the air barely escaping the wave and landing onto the rooftops.

"That was close." Luffy says as he readjusts his hat while the others nodded.

Zoro turns to Rose. "When you spoke to Robin did she leave a clue to where she's going?"

"She didn't tell me but if my guess is correct she should be getting on a sea train to Enies Lobby as we speak…" (What the hell should I do? I know I shouldn't mess with the storyline but-)

"ROSE!" Rose snapped out of her thoughts to hear Luffy shouting at her. "Sorry Luffy what did you say?"

"I said is that the sea train there?" Luffy points to the sea train that has left the station.

"Crap… Yea, that's it. Don't worry, I know of another way to go after them but we need to find the others first." The guys nod in agreement when they heard a familiar voice shouting.

"LUFFY! ZORO! ROSE!" The three of them look down to see Chopper and the other shipwrights searching for them.

Rose yells down to him "CHOPPER! WE'RE UP HERE!"

Chopper and the others stop to see them but before they can react Luffy grabs Rose and Zoro and jumps off the roof scaring the shipwrights half to death.

Rose summoned some wind to cushion their fall while Chopper ran to them. "GUYS! ROBIN-"

Luffy places a hand up to stop him. "Don't worry Chopper. Rose told us everything about Robin we just need to find-"

"CHOPPER!" As if on cue Nami showed up in a rush. "Good, you found the others. Sanji snuck onto the train! We have to find a way to get to Enies Lobby!"

"What was that way you were talking about Rose?" Zoro says as he and the others turn to her.

"Kokoro's able to get us there. Do any of you shipwrights know where to find her?"

"Did someone say my name? Ngagaga!" Everyone turns in surprise to see Kokoro, Chimney and Gonbei walking towards them. "So, what did you need me for wind pirate?"

"There's another sea train that can get us to Enies Lobby correct? If anyone knows of one existing it's you."

Kokoro blinks in surprise then starts laughing "Ngagagaga! Very insightful of you! Yea, I have a sea train but I must ask you first: Are you all willing to wage war on the World Government for one friend?"

Luffy stood up "Just hurry and take us! Our friends are waiting for us!" The others nod in agreement.

Kokoro smiles "Reckless are you? Well then follow me. I'll take you to the sea train."

* * *

"Ack!" Rose winces as Chopper works on her wounds in the conductor's room of the sea train known as Rocket Man while the others are outside of the train talking to the Franky Family. "How much longer do you need to do this doc?"

"As long as I need to. You're lucky you just got a few badly bruised ribs and scratches after what Kalifa did." Chopper places the last bandage on then motions her to stand to test her movements, once everything checked out he sighed in relief. "Good, that should hold you up but you need to be careful during the battle. You can't be doing anything stupid like Luffy would got it?!"

Rose gave him a smile while nodding. "I'll try to be careful, but with you as my doctor I'm not worried. Thanks for the treatment doc."

Chopper breaks into another happy dance "Shut up idiot! Trusting me like that won't make me happy! Heehee!"

Rose giggles at the reaction then leaves to the other car to grab a bite of the food Nami brought. (Alright, so far so good. What should I do when we get there though? I know Luffy goes off on his own before the others get there... If I go with him and sneak him to the court house there would be too many marines going after the others but I can't let Luffy waste his energy against the marines either…)

Kokoro starts up the den den mushi snapping her out of her thoughts "All aboard! Now leaving Water Seven and heading to Enies Lobby!"

The other Straw Hats climb onto the train and are ready to go. Luffy however took a seat on the front of the sea train. "LET'S GO!" The sea train goes full speed out of the canal and onto the ocean.

(Oh crap, that's right!) Rose turns to the others "Guys, when Kokoro gets onto the rails the train's going to get even faster so brace yourselves. I'm going to make sure we don't lose our captain to the storm."

Rose leaves to climb out of the train while Zoro and Nami followed her instructions then experienced the full force of the train's speed. When the train settled down they also relaxed with Nami huffing out in frustration "Man, sometimes she's even more of a mystery than Robin…"

Zoro nods in agreement. "You noticed that too huh? It's like one minute she's an innocent kid not knowing what she's doing and the next she knows exactly what's coming and is prepared for it."

"Exactly… But to be honest I'm not worried. She's doing what she can to help after all. I'm sure in time she'll tell us everything about what's going on with her."

Zoro smiles and nods in agreement. "Yea, there's no doubt that she fits in here. For now though let's focus on getting Robin back."

Nami nods in agreement then both of them jolts when they hear crying at the back of the car. Zambai reveals himself while holding a tissue to wipe his comical tears with Kiwi and Mozu crying in the background. "YOUR TRUST IN EACH OTHER IS SO BEAUTIFUL! YOU STRAW HATS ARE ALMOST AS AMAZING AS BIG BRO!"

Paulie came out of hiding and whacked him in the head "WILL YOU SHUT UP?! YOU'RE SCREAMING IN MY EAR!"

Tilestone yells as well when he pops out of hiding "YOU'RE SCREAMING IN MY EAR TOO PAULIE!"

"You have no right to complain Tilestone…" Lulu says as he rearranges his hair again.

"WILL YOU SHUT UP?! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE ANYWAY?!" Nami yells causing all four of them to stop fighting while Rose and Luffy walk into the car.

"Since you're going to risk your lives. I decided to help you. Those assholes think they can get away with trying to kill Iceberg this is personal." Paulie says as he smokes his cigar.

"We're helping out too! Those assholes kidnapped our bro we gotta help!" Zambai says with Kiwi and Mozu nodding in agreement.

Luffy steps up to Zambai and Paulie "It's fine with me. Even though we were enemies back in Water Seven our enemies are the same now. From now on we're allies." Zambai and Paulie both nod in agreement for the alliance.

Rose smiled in approval then walked to the conductor's room. (Maybe some sleep could give me an idea about what to do…) "Hello Kokoro, is it alright if I rest in here for a little while?"

Kokoro took a swig of her alcohol before nodding "Of course! The more the merrier I say~"

"Thank you very much." Rose gives her a polite bow before making herself comfortable and closing her eyes.

* * *

 _"Rose, what are you doing?" Teresa opens the door of her study to an 8 year old Rose who's been listening to her practice her lecture._

 _"H-hi mom. I-I just forgot my notebook in the room." Rose walked in and shifted her eyes while she was lying causing her mother to huff in frustration._

 _"Oh really? And where is this notebook?" Rose jolted when being challenged on her lie "U-um Oh! I made a mistake it's in the bathroom." Rose lied again earning her a whack in the head from her mother._

 _"If you're gonna lie at least be convincing! Now tell me what you're doing."_

 _Rose massages her aching head before letting out a sigh. "Sorry… The truth is, I'm not sure about what to do with this decision and listening to your lectures always helps me think…"_

 _Teresa blinks in surprise when hearing that. "What kind of problem is it?"_

 _Rose looked at the ground in embarrassment "That's not important…" Teresa got a fist ready to whack her causing her to raise her arms defensively. "OK, OK! I'm trying to decide what the best way to self-teach myself how to play the guitar would be…"_

 _"You want to learn how to use your dad's guitar?"_

 _"Yea, but I want to learn on my own!"_

 _"I see…Well, how you learn all depends on you. You can choose one route by learning all the chords, or listen and learn or go for the sandwich route."_

 _Rose quirked an eyebrow at her mom "The sandwich route?"_

 _"Yea, the sandwich route is a route where you go in the middle and take parts of the two separate options to make one of your own."_

 _"Oh! I get it! I think I should take the sandwich route."_

 _"Hehe, that's the route I took too." Rose and Teresa turned to find Joe at the doorway. "If you want to learn on your own I won't stop you_ _but if you need any help don't hesitate to ask me alright?" He kneels down to Rose and ruffles her hair when she nods._

 _"Good girl now give me a hug!" Teresa opened their arms to welcome Rose who ran into them but when the arms wrapped around her they start to shake her._

 _"M-mom, what are you doing?" Rose tried to get her to let go but she wouldn't listen when she kept shaking her and yelled "WAKE UP ROSE!"_

* * *

Rose woke up to Luffy holding her shoulders and shaking her to wake up only for him to be pried off by an angry Sanji.

"IF YOU'RE GOING TO WAKE UP A BEAUTIFUL GIRL DO IT WITH MORE CARE STUPID!" Sanji yelled as he kicked him in the head and into the other room.

Rose got up rubbing her eyes then checking her wounds to make sure they were ok. "Hey Sanji, when did you get here?"

"Sniper King and I came here about 5 minutes ago. We couldn't get Robin back though…" Sanji looks down in guilt.

Rose gives him a reassuring smile while ruffling his hair. "It'll be alright Sanji. Once we reach Enies Lobby those assholes won't know what hit them. We'll get Robin back no matter what."

He looks at her in surprise before hearts form in his eyes "Rose-chan, you're so sweet!"

Rose lightly giggled before smiling (his flirting is always funny.) "Thanks Sanji. Let's go see the others."

He nods while they head into the next room only to be greeted by Usopp in a weird mask. "Hello there Miss. I am your friendly Sniper King! I'm here to help."

Rose blinked for a moment before smiling (Haha! I'm so glad I get to see this.) "Pleasure to meet you Sniper King. My name's Rose." She shakes his hand before he tells her, Luffy and Chopper some of his stories about Sniper Island.

When they start getting closer to Enies Lobby everyone started to gather around to start creating the strategy. (Hmm… Thanks to that dream I got an idea about what I can do now, but I'm going to get a real scolding for it later… For these guys it's worth it.) Rose snuck out of the huddle and grabbed a few supplies and placed them in a bag before sneaking into the conductor's room.

"My, my! What can I do for you wind pirate?" Kokoro says as she takes another swig from her liquor.

"I'm sorry to bother you about this Kokoro, but when the others ask about where I am would you please give this to them for me?" Rose politely bowed before handing her a note.

"I see. You're going off alone are you? Don't worry I'll give it to them, but I have a condition: If you see a guy named Spandam give him hell for me would ya? I'm sure you know who he is."

Rose gave her a nod with a smirk on her face. "Oh, I know exactly who you're talking about and it would be my pleasure to kick him into next week." Rose jumped out of the window and into the rain just before Nami walked into the room searching for her.

"Hello Granny Kokoro. Have you seen Rose anywhere?"

"Ngagaga! Sorry to say but your friend just left and told me to give you this." She handed her the note.

Once she opened it a vein popped on her forehead while reading the content.

 **Hey guys,**

 **Sorry for leaving like this. In order to make it easier on you guys I'm gonna go ahead and raise some hell on the island to distract them. Good luck on your end.**

 **Rose**

Once Nami finished reading the note she crumpled the paper in rage "RRRROOOSSSEEEE!"

TO BE CONTINUED


	9. Chapter 9

"ROSE DID WHAT?!" Everyone on the sea train screamed in shock when they heard from Nami about Roses stunt.

"I told her not to do anything crazy! Not only has she not fully recovered, but she doesn't have full control of her abilities yet!" Chopper scrambles around the train with worry.

"That girl, of all the stunts she's pulled this has got to be the most insane one yet!" Nami says as she seethes in rage.

"It's fine." Luffy says causing the others to look at him confused.

Sanji starts getting worked up at Luffy's attitude "How is this fine Luffy?! Rose-chan could be getting attacked by marines out there! So help me if one of them lays a finger on her or Robin I'll-"

"Shut up love cook! I agree with Luffy on this one, even with her injuries she's not weak. She can take care of them until we get there." Zoro says as he relaxes in his seat.

Sniper King nods in agreement. "Though I just met her, Usopp told me a few stories about Roses strength. From what I heard about her I'm sure she has a plan on how to take care of them."

Paulie steps into the conversation. "Have any of her 'plans' worked before?"

The crew stares at him blankly for a moment before running to the window. "COME BACK ROSE!"

* * *

At the front gate of Enies Lobby the marines and World Government agents start to relax after seeing CP9 and the prisoners pass their gate.

"So that's what CP9 is like. They're as scary as the rumors say." One of the marines says to his comrades as he stands guard while the others nod.

"I agree. I'm glad they're on our side."

"Yea, I'd hate to be the pirates that meet them. They'd probably wet their pants at first glance! Hahahaha!" The others start joining their friend in laughing.

"EXCUSE ME!" All the marines stop laughing to search for the voice to find Rose sitting on the sea train: The Puffing Tom. "Can any of you guys point me to the Justice Building? I need to pick up my friends."

The marines stare at her in confusion and start talking among themselves. "Did any of the officials mention a girl picking them up?"

"No one reported anything. Let's ask her."

The marines turn to her in confusion "Um, who are you picking up miss?"

"You guys should know them. They go by the names of Franky and Nico Robin."

All the marines widen their eyes at the realization that she's a pirate and aim their guns at her. "SURRENDER NOW OR DIE PIRATE!"

Rose stands up while giving off a smirk and starts to be dramatic. "OH MY! WHAT TO DO? IT LOOKS LIKE I'M SURROUNDED! Sorry, but I'm not surrendering! I'll give you an offer though: open the gates to let me pass and I won't hurt you."

They stare at her blankly before laughing. "BWAHAHAHA! HER not hurt US?! A little girl like her making such a threat?! That's hilarious!"

"Alright men, enough with the laughs let's aim for her limbs to show her we mean business then we'll bring her to Impel Down."

The men nod in agreement and took aim. "DON'T SAY WE DIDN'T WARN YOU BRAT!" They fired at her arms and legs but once they went through her they started to sweat drop and pale.

Rose shook her head showing disappointment then starts putting her hair up. "And to think I would have even gone easy on you if you resisted, but because of the laughing looks like I'll have to be serious from the start." Rose flew up and turned her leg into a twister.

"TWISTER KICK!" She fired her kick at them and sent all the marines in the twister's path flying while an official hides and uses a den den mushi to call headquarters.

"THIS IS THE MAIN GATE REPORTING! AN INTRUDER HAS STARTED ATTACKING AT THE MAIN GATE! CHARACTERISTICS ARE FEMALE AND-"

On the other end of the line Spandam cuts him off with confusion. "Only one intruder? And on top of that she's a girl? Why haven't you killed her?"

"SIR! THIS IS NO ORDINARY GIRL SHE'S A-"

"TWISTER PUSH!" Rose completely stunned the marines when she turned both of her arms into a large tornado and blew the doors of the main gate right off the hinges. She lifted herself up a few inches off the ground and flew through the gate way and waved at them "CATCH ME IF YOU CAN SOLDIER BOYS!"

Spandam got irritated at the lack of response. "She's a what?! What is she?!"

The official snaps out of it and frantically answers the den den mushi. "EVERYONE BE CAREFUL OF HER! SHE'S A LOGIA DEVIL FRUIT USER! THE ELEMENT SEEMS TO BE AIR AND SHE JUST BLEW THE DOORS OFF THE MAIN GATE AND IS HEADING FOR THE FRONT GATE!"

Spandam spat out his coffee after hearing that. "SHE DID WHAT?! CAPTURE HER IMMEDIATELY!"

"YES SIR!" He kept his connection with Spandam as he and most of the other marines went after her.

Rose flew with a large grin on her face while making sure the marines kept up the chase. (Hahahaha! So far the plan's working great! It's been a while since I was chased like Sakamoto in Peacemaker for the fun of it. I gotta keep it up, the next gate's approaching!) Rose flew to the next gate only to be approached by marines charging at her with swords. She brings out her staff and unsheathes the twin blades to collide with the oncoming blades of the marines.

"WIND BLADE STORM!" Rose unleashed a flurry of mini wind blades against the officers and injured their sides and legs. She summons a whirlwind to send the surrounding marines flying then slams them to the ground. "WIND BLADE CROSS!" She slashed the twin blades in the air to form two wind blades in the shape of an "X" flying straight at the doors of the gates and broke the gate. Then she blasted wind at the broken gate and sent the pieces flying. "THANKS FOR THE SPARRING MATCH! SEE YA!" Rose slammed the marines in her way to the wall and knocked them out while flying through the gates.

"GAURDS KEEP MOVING! WE HAVE TO CATCH HER!" The marines continue to run all around the island after Rose with more and more marines being defeated. She landed at one of the streets to find herself surrounded by hundreds of marines.

"You're one stupid kid. Even if you can fly do you really think you can deal with 10,000 marines alone?"

"Like I need an army to handle you guys. Silly me though, I forgot to introduce myself. My name's Catone Rose and I'm a proud member of the Straw Hat Pirates. Now then, please move before I make you."

"HELL NO!" The marines all charge her at once but before they struck she flew up in the air causing them to collide with each other. She sheathed her twin blades back to a staff and used it to create a whirlwind to slam them to the ground before landing and running away.

She flies onto the roof of one of the tall buildings to catch her breath while the marines search for her. (Damn, these guys are endless and these injuries aren't helping… I gotta find a way to beat them all at once without over doing it. Maybe I can try to focus my wind to do that move Kagura did in Inuyasha what was it called again?) She strokes her chin in thought until she snapped her fingers in realization (That's right, Dragon Dance! Wait, don't I need a fan for tha-)

"WAAAAH!" Rose snapped out of her thoughts when she looked to see a giant tornado formed and sent a large amount marines flying and screaming.

Her mouth practically dropped to her feet in shock. (HOLY CRAP! DID I DO THAT?! HOW THE HELL DID I-) She looked down at the fingers that she snapped. "It couldn't have been that easy could it?" She snaps her fingers again and a small tornado formed from them. It started moving away from her and grew larger until it reached the size of the first tornado and moved to a different direction from the first one attacking everything in sight.

She looks to the tornado then her hands with excitement. (WHOA! I'm like a wind version of Roy Mustang! Wait… Crap, that one's heading to the road the others are gonna take.) Rose quickly flew to the tornado and used her staff to form a wind blade to slash the tornado and stop it. The victims of the tornado quickly fell to the ground and lost consciousness. "Alright, that takes care of that. What about the other-"

"WHOA!" Rose looked at the other tornado in shock to see Luffy clutching to a building trying not to let it take him.

"LUFFY!" Rose quickly flew over to the tornado before it could drag Luffy into it and slashed through it with another wind blade. She flew over to Luffy's side while he dusts himself off on the roof. "Are you alright Luffy? I'm so sorry, I didn't know I could make a-"

"AWESOME! YOU CAN MAKE TORNADOES TOO?! YOU'RE SO COOL!" He looks at her with stars in his eyes causing her to sweat drop.

(Did he forget my tornado almost swallowed him? Hehe, at least the plan worked. He looks good- I mean he seems ready to go!) She hides her blush by turning to the court house "Th-thanks, I'm glad you're ok. We better get moving, Robin's waiting for us."

Luffy nods but before they leave more marines surround the building and start shooting at them.

Rose sighs in frustration "Man, these guys won't quit. Luffy, when I jump down I want you to roof jump to that large building over there. I'll follow you after I take care of them." She points to the court house causing him to nod. She blasts wind out of her hands to hold down the marines then jumps down to the street to fight them off while Luffy makes a break for the court house.

* * *

Spandam has sent away Robin and Franky along with the members of CP9 and handed them their devil fruits. He realized he left the den den mushi off the hook and called to get a report. "Have you captured the girl yet?"

"Sorry sir, we spotted Straw Hat Luffy but when we tried to go after him the girl attacked us."

"WHAT?! You mean to tell me you not only couldn't stop Straw Hat Luffy but even a single girl?! What's the new damage report from the girl?"

"I would say by now about 800 from physical fighting but with the tornadoes it's-"

"There's no way that can be right! I heard it was 5! You're saying one girl has defeated 800 of our men?!"

"Sorry sir, but it's the truth. This girl is truly a monster. Waah!" Roses wind sent him flying and caught the den den mushi.

She snaps her fingers for a tornado to go after the men that was pursuing her and Luffy then flies to a roof top to talk to Spandam. "I take it I'm speaking to Spandam?"

"Who- WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?!"

"The Straw Hats astronomer: Catone Rose. Are you alone?"

The den den mushi nods causing Rose to continue. "Good, I'm gonna make this brief. Harm one more hair on Robin or Franky and I'll make you regret it."

"BWAHAHAHA! Do you know who you're talking to girl?! I'm-"

"Spandam: the leader of CP9 and former leader of CP5. You not only harmed innocent people in Water Seven with Franky's stolen ships but also framed Tom for being the culprit and sent him to his death."

Spandam stared at the snail in shock. "H-how did you know that?!"

"The same way I know that you manipulated the Gorosei to allow you to retrieve Pluton and plan to use it to overthrow the World Government."

"WHO THE HELL TOLD YOU THAT?!" (This is absurd, who is this girl?)

"Not telling."

"S-so what if you know what I'm planning?! It's not like anyone would believe a pirate anyway. It's better I revive it and become ruler than let Nico Robin do whatever she wants with it."

"Watch your mouth! Robin has no intention of reviving any weapon! Her research is as harmless as my research on the Timore Comet!"

Spandams face on the snail shows complete shock causing her to be confused. "Y-you're researching Hell's Comet?!"

(Hell's Comet?) "Got a problem with that?"

"THAT COMET IS ALMOST AS BIG OF A TABOO AS THE PONEGLYPHS! I get it now, you're trying to spirit me away with the power of the comet! Well, I won't let you! Be prepared Catone Rose for I'll be sure to send you to the deepest hells of Impel Down!" Spandam hangs up the den den mushi.

Rose chuckles as she hangs up her side of the den den mushi and turns off the tone dial she used to record the conversation. "Hehe, this should take care of him. Glad I brought this with me. So, the World Government is scared of the comet huh? Figures, they wouldn't want their citizens escaping to other worlds… I better get moving. The others should be there soon."

Rose started to fly over to the court house but stopped at the sound of Nami's screaming and realized where her tornado went. "Shit…"

* * *

"WHERE DID THAT TORNADO COME FROM?!" Chopper yells as he sees Roses tornado going after him, Nami, Sanji, Zoro and the Franky Family who are riding on a giant yagara right before they reach the court house.

"I don't know, but this has Rose written all over it." Zoro says as he was got his swords out and ready to attack.

"WIND BLADE!" Before Zoro could attack it Rose slashed through the tornado and landed on the yagara while giving them a nervous smile. "H-hey guys, glad to see you made-"

Nami went to whack her but her fists kept going through her. "YOUR CRAZY TORNADO ALMOST KILLED US! WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?!"

"I'm sorry Nami! I didn't know it was heading here!"

"That's not what you should be apologizing for!" Chopper says as he checks her injuries. "You haven't fully healed yet! I thought I told you not to do anything Luffy would do!"

"I'm sorry… If it makes you guys feel better I ran into Luffy. He should be at the roof of the court house right now."

The group arrives at the court house and got off the yagara with no marines in sight.

Sanji puffs out a smoke before turning to Rose. "They're probably waiting for us inside. Rose, can you bring us to the roof?"

"It's possible, but it's not a good idea."

Nami looks to her in surprise. "What are you talking about?"

"You experienced it yourself back when you, Luffy and I faced Galley-La. When I tried flying with you two, once Lucci hit me all of us fell. If something happens to me or if I lose my focus while we're flying we'd all fall. Also, with more people it takes more focus and maneuvering to avoid the bullets aiming at us. Basically we'd all be moving targets for them. I think the best way to reach Luffy would be to get to the roof from the inside. I'm going to make a twister out here to stall the incoming marines, so everyone get inside."

After hearing her explanation the others nod in agreement and barge into the courthouse while Rose goes in front of Yokozuna and the Giant Yagara: Gomorrah. "You and Sodom did a great job getting them here Gomorrah, thank you for the help. Yokozuna, you did a great job protecting the others as well thank you. I'll be sure to give Spandam a good beating for you. Both of you don't worry, Sodom's gonna be alright we're all gonna make it back to Water Seven so don't give up!" She gives them a thumbs up and a large smile before turning around and creates a tornado for the incoming marines.

Yokozuna and Gomorrah look at her in shock then smile while she flies up in the air to make sure the route of the tornado doesn't attack any of her friends outside. Afterwards she flies into the court house where the Straw Hats and the Franky Family are fighting the marines and Baskerville.

"WE'RE GONNA LOWER THE DRAW BRIDGE! YOU GUYS GET TO THE ROOF!" Zambai yells as he and the Franky Family fight off the marines in their way.

"ROSE-CHAN, NAMI SWAN! FOLLOW ME I'LL LEAD THE WAY!" Sanji yells as he, Nami and Chopper run up the stairs while Zoro goes in a completely different direction until Rose sent him flying to their direction.

"PUT ME DOWN ROSE!" Zoro yells as she catches up to them and sets him down with the group.

"I swear Zoro, someday I'm gonna have to keep a wind hold on you to make sure you don't get lost."

"I'd like to see you try."

"We'll focus on Zoro's lack of direction later! Let's get going!" Nami says causing them to nod while making their way through the building.

* * *

"JUST LEAVE ALREADY LUFFY! I NEVER ASKED TO BE SAVED! I JUST WANT TO DIE!" Robin yelled from the Justice Building to Luffy who's on the roof of the court house.

"WAHAHA! ALL OF THAT FOR NOTHING! CP9 don't do anything right now! I want to watch him suffer some more." Spandam says as he and CP9 watch the scene but when they look at Luffy they were shocked to find him casually picking his nose.

"ROBIN! WE'RE NOT LEAVING WITHOUT YOU! YOU CAN DECIDE WHAT YOU WANT TO DO AFTER WE GET YOU OUT OF HERE!" Luffy says when Zoro used his swords to cut a hole in the roof and accidentally sent Rose, Nami and Chopper flying into the air.

Rose used her wind to gently land them on the ground while getting an earful from Nami "I thought I told you to be careful with your wind Rose!"

"This time Zoro's the one you should be scolding! He's the one that did it this time!" Rose pointed to the hole revealing Zoro climbing out.

Spandam looks to Rose in fear while the rest of the Straw Hats arrive (TH-THAT'S HER?! That's the one studying Hell's Comet?! I need to make her and the others know their place!)

He goes to the rails of the building and yells out to the crew "YOU DIRTY PIRATES! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHERE YOU ARE?! YOU'RE AT THE HEART OF THE WORLD GOVERNMENT AND ARE FACED WITH NOT ONLY THE POWER OF CP9 BUT ALSO THE POWER OF-"

Before he could finish Rose used her wind to slam him to the building. "THAT'S ENOUGH OUT OF YOU SPANDAM!" She turns to the crew "Sorry guys. I can't stand that loudmouth."

"Don't worry about it Rose, we would've done the same." Nami says as Spandam quickly recovers.

Before Spandam could say anything Robin cuts in. "DON'T YOU GUYS GET IT?! THE MORE I WANT TO BE WITH YOU THE MORE MY DARKNESS BARES ITS FANGS AT YOU! I'VE ALREADY GOT YOU INVOLVED NOT ONLY WITH AOKIJI BUT THIS TIME AS WELL! I DON'T WANT TO BURDEN YOU WITH MY ENEMY BECAUSE THE WORLD IS MY ENEMY!"

While the crew looks at her with concern Spandam laughs and gloats. "HAHAHA! YOU SEE?! NO MATTER WHAT YOU PEOPLE KNOW OR WHAT ANY OF YOU DO YOU CAN'T DEFEAT THE ENTIRE WORLD! LOOK UP AND SEE THE FLAG ON TOP OF BUILDING! THAT'S THE SYMBOL OF THE ENTIRE WORLD! DO YOU HONESTLY THINK YOU CAN PROTECT HER FROM THAT?!"

Luffy looks up at the flag and knows what needs to be done "Sniper King, I want you to shoot that flag."

Sniper King nods in agreement and takes aim. "Roger. FIRE BIRD STAR!" He fires straight at the flag causing it to go up in flames.

The stunt shocks CP9, Spandam and Robin while the crews faces show satisfaction.

(Wouldn't expect anything less from you captain.) Rose smirks as she watches Spandam recover from the shock.

"ARE YOU INSANE?! DON'T EVEN HOPE THAT YOU CAN MAKE IT WITH THE WORLD AS YOUR ENEMY!"

"I CAN LIVE WITH THAT!" Luffy yells causing Robin to freeze with tears running down her face "ROBIN! I WANT YOU TO TELL ME SOMETHING! TELL ME YOU WANT TO LIVE!"

Tears continue to fall on Robins face when she looks at the crew showing no regret in Luffy's decision. "I-I WANT TO LIVE! TAKE ME WITH YOU! I WANT TO GO OUT TO SEA WITH YOU!"

Franky cries with joy while the crew smiles with pride then looks down to see the draw bridge starting to lower. The crew starts to get excited that they get to go over there.

(Sorry Robin and Franky. If I fly you guys over to us now I don't know what CP9 would pull. Just hold on a little longer we'll get you guys back!) Rose gets her staff out and ready when she watches Franky use his fire breath to destroy the blueprints to Pluton and be pushed off the building by Spandam.

(Crap! Hold on Franky!) Before Rose can catch him Luffy suddenly wraps his arms around her and the others and jumps off the building with them. Before they land Kokoro catches them with Rocket Man and brings them into the Justice Building where the real battle begins.

TO BE CONTINUED


	10. Chapter 10

The Sea Train crashed into the Justice Building and the crew heard from Fukuro about the keys that they need to retrieve for Robin's sea stone cuffs. They decided to split up in order to find the CP9 agents while Luffy goes after Robin. Rose is currently running through the Justice Building with Sanji until they stop at a door.

Before he walks in Rose puts a hand on the door "Sanji, I'll take this one. You should go further." (As much as I respect Sanji's no hit women rule he needs to focus on the mission.)

Sanji quirks an eyebrow at her "Do you know who's behind this door Rose-Chan?"

"It's just easier if we split up. Please hurry! If you don't keep going Robin won't be saved by her prince!"

"HOLD ON ROBIN-CHWAAN!" He runs further into the Justice Building while Rose turns to the door.

(I'm glad that worked. Time for a rematch.) Rose walks into the room to find Kalifa waiting for her.

"Well, well we just keep meeting Ms. Catone Rose." Kalifa says as she shuts the door behind her.

"Hehe, it's like fate's giving me a second chance to come at you."

"I'm surprised you're even willing to come at all. I don't know what you said to Spandam and frankly I don't care, but you spooked him enough to give us a specific order along with cutting down your crew."

Rose raised an eyebrow at this. "Oh really? And what would that be?"

"If we had the chance to find you we were ordered to…" Kalifa air jumped and appeared right behind her and whispered in her ear "Make you wish you were dead then bring you to Impel Down."

Before Rose can react Kalifa touched her right arm and used her devil fruit to make it into an odd bubbly shape before Rose flew away from her and sent a twister kick her way.

(Crap, I forgot about her devil fruit… I gotta get my arm in some water.) She blasted wind at Kalifa to slam her to the wall and held her there while using a twister kick to break the faucet of the bath tub causing the water to erupt and placed her arm in the geyser.

Kalifa sent a tempest kick her way causing her to release the hold as she dodged. "Not bad Kalifa, I'm surprised you can control the bubble bubble fruit so well after just eating it."

Kalifa freezes in shock. "J-just because you know my devil fruit doesn't mean you can win!"

"We'll see about that!" Rose turned her arm into a twister "TWISTER PUNCH!" She aimed it at Kalifa but she air jumped to dodge and aimed a bubble tide at her but cut through it with a wind blade. Rose slammed Kalifa to the wall again but she protected herself with a soap shield.

Kalifa sent bubbles to sap her strength but she used a wind barrier to protect herself. She unsheathed her twin blades and aimed a wind blade storm at Kalifa but she used tekkai to block it but felt it.

Both of them are panting while Rose sheathes the blades. (This is getting the both of us nowhere… I got an idea!) Rose snapped her fingers to form three mini tornadoes going towards Kalifa.

Kalifa laughs at the attempt. "I get it now! You're a new devil fruit user as well. How sad that I'm more beautiful and more capable of using my powers than you."

Roses eye twitched then she smirked "It's true, I'm still new to my abilities. But, learning about what I can do every day makes beating bimbos like you more enjoyable!"

The three tornadoes grew and cornered Kalifa but before she can air jump out of the way Rose flew up above her with both of her arms turned into tornadoes. "TWISTER BARRAGE!" All the tornadoes morphed into one huge twister and attacked Kalifa with it and trapped her there as long as she could keep the twister under control.

When Rose called off the attack she landed on her knees panting (Keeping those tornadoes under control takes a lore more out of me than I thought. I guess I found my trump card… KALIFA!) She got up in a stance to face Kalifa only to find her unconscious on the ground. "I-I DID IT! Oh right, the key!" Rose went over to her and cautiously grabbed the key from her. (I can't believe I won! I think I'm getting the hang of this.)

"Rose?!" Rose turns to the doorway to see Nami shocked.

"Nami, I'm glad you're here. Here's one of the keys to the sea stone cuffs." She tosses the key to Nami and looks at it with excitement.

"Great job Rose! That's just what we need!"

"Thanks." Rose smiles in satisfaction then looks at her in confusion. "Wait, where's Chopper?"

"Kumadori caught up with us and he's facing him right now."

(SHIT! THIS IS NO TIME TO BE CELEBRATING! WHAT'S WRONG WITH ME?!) "Nami, you go to the guys and give them that key! I gotta go help Chopper!"

Rose quickly runs out of the room leaving a confused Nami with the key.

* * *

"I DID IT! I LOCKED HIM UP!" Chopper cheers of his accomplishment of locking Kumadori in the fridge.

"HOLD IT GORILLA! I NEED THAT FRIDGE!" Franky yells as he fights off Fukuro.

"The CP9 agent and the punk! AND WHO ARE YOU CALLING A GORILLA?!"

"DAMN YOU'RE SLOW! Look, I'm on your side here! In order to save Robin I need you get me three bottles of cola from the fridge."

"WHAT KIND OF IDIOT RUNS ON COLA?!"

"Don't underestimate the power of cola Chopper." All of them look to the doorway to find Rose running into the kitchen. (Good, I'm not too late.)

Franky gives her a thumb up. "I'm glad you see it my way Freckles!"

"How much longer will you keep ignoring me? Chapapa! It's rude to have a conversation during a battle!" Fukuro aims his attack at Franky but Rose uses a wind blast to slam him to the wall.

"Why not give me a fight instead Fukuro? Chopper, please hurry!"

Fukuro immediately gets up and goes at it with Rose while Chopper quickly snatches three bottles of tomato juice and gives it to him.

"FRESH!" Both Rose and Fukuro stop in shock to see Franky's hair change into the shape of a tomato. "FRESHNESS IS THE BEST! VEGETABLE PUNCH!" He aims a weak punch at Fukuro earning him a punch that sends him flying. "WHO THE HELL SAYS 'FRESH IS THE BEST?!'" he throws the bottles at the fridge then quickly receives three bottles of tea from Chopper and his hair and personality changed again.

This time his hair turned into three wavy strands and he sat down while wiping sweat off of his head. "Now I'm feeling good! Man, we shouldn't be fighting. We should all settle down and have some tea." He quickly takes out the tea bottles and throws them at the fridge. "THAT'S NOT IT EITHER!"

(He's so funny!) Both Rose and Chopper look at Franky with excitement.

Franky looks at them in irritation. "HEY YOU BRATS! WHAT'S UP WITH THE 'WHAT WILL HAPPEN IF YOU GIVE ME DIFFERENT DRINKS FACES?!' GIVE ME COLA!"

Chopper quickly gives him the three bottles of Cola and he gets back into action by sending a punch to Fukuro. Both Rose and Chopper stand back while Franky fights Fukuro.

Chopper realizes he forgot something. "OH RIGHT! Rose, we need to find key number 2!"

"Don't worry Chopper. I took the number 2 key from Kalifa and Nami's got it now."

Chopper stares at her with stars in his eyes. "R-really?! You're so cool Rose!"

She gives him a sheepish grin and rubs the back of her neck "Oh come on now. I'm not-"

"YOYOI! Diid I heeaar correctly? Yooou're Roooose?" Both of them turned around to find a fat Kumadori behind them.

Chopper looks at him in shock then goes into heavy point. "WAAH! He's out of the fridge! And he's fat?!"

"Did he eat the entire fridge? Yup, I'm Rose. You're ready to fight me too?" She unsheathes her blades and gets into a stance.

Chopper tilts his head in confusion "Why is he asking for you Rose?"

"I kind of scared their boss, so now they want me sent to Impel Down."

"WHAT?!"

"YOYOI! DOOON'T IGNOORREE MEEE! IT'S RUDE!" Both of them turn to an angry skinny Kumadori.

Choppers eye widen in shock. "HOW DID YOU LOSE THE WEIGHT?!"

"Like this! Semei Kikan!" Kumadori suddenly gained the weight back then turned back to his normal physique. "I trained myself to control my entire body all the way to the tip of my hair!"

"Impressive!" Chopper says with excitement.

"Why thank you! Now then, prepare to lose!" Kumadori aims his hair at them causing Rose and Chopper to dodge.

"WIND BLADE STORM!" Rose sent the wind blades at Kumadori cutting some of the ends of his hair off.

"I HOPE YOU'RE READY TO PAY FOR RUINING MY MANLY MANE WITH YOUR LIFE!" Kumadori was furious as he uses his staff at aim it at her but it goes through her. Then Chopper got into Heavy Point to punch him but it didn't work.

Both of them are dodging his attacks when he started hiding from them. Rose turns to Chopper "Chopper, you gotta get out of here!"

"No way! I can't leave you alone knowing they're after you! I just need to get into Arm Point!"

"Forget it! You already ate a rumble ball right?! It's too dangerous for you to eat one ag- AAH!" Kumadori came out of hiding and slammed her to the wall with his staff then wrapped her limbs with his hair.

(ACK!) Rose sent Kumadori flying and slammed his head to the ceiling causing him to let go of her then Chopper charges at Kumadori to try to use arm point but used guard point by mistake then gets whacked by his staff.

(Crap! He ate the rumble ball!) Rose goes in between Chopper and Kumadori "TWISTER KICK!" Roses attack hits him and slams him to the wall but he immediately goes back up and turns his hair into finger pistols and attacks her but they go through her.

"WIND BLADE CROSS!" Roses wind blade cross hits Kumadori but he gets right back up with the wound. Rose is in a stance ready for the attack. (I can't let up now. I gotta keep going!)

Kumadori goes to attack her but Chopper finally goes to arm point and attacks him. "ROSEO METEL!" His attack hits Kumadori and causes him to pant in exhaustion.

"YOYOI! So strong, yet I can no longer HOLD BACK!" Kumadori goes to attack Chopper and Rose at full force.

"WIND BARRIER!" The barrier holds him back but it's not strong enough to hold his hair back as he hits both Rose and Chopper.

(DAMNIT! My logia abilities are acting up again.) "CHOPPER RUN!" Rose sheathed the blades and attacked him with a wind blade but he keeps going and countered by a whack to her side with his staff then goes to attack Chopper who's still trying to get up.

Before he could hit him Rose sent him flying to slam him to the ceiling then flew quickly at him while he's falling to slam the staff at Kumadori's face and slammed him to the ground. "Leave him alone Kumadori! Chopper, please get out of here!"

"YOYOI! I almost forgot about you!" Kumadori got up and pinned her to the ground with his staff then wrapped her limbs with his hair while she tries to fight back. "You were lucky to have been ordered alive. Let's go."

Chopper manages to sit up and watches Kumadori about to leave with Rose. (Hold on Rose! I'm sorry for not listening. When I transform, please run away…) Chopper grabs his last rumble ball shocking Rose.

"CHOPPER! DON'T DO IT!" But it was too late as he bit down on the drug and transformed to his monster point.

Rose took Kumadori's shock to her advantage and forced her wind to slam him to the wall and release her from his hold as she runs away from Choppers attack on Kumadori that knocks him out and sends him flying to Enies Lobby.

"WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED?! IS THAT THE DEER GORILLA?!" Rose turned to see Franky after he defeated Fukuro.

(This isn't good!) "Yea, it's Chopper. He ate too many rumble balls and now he's out of control! I'm gonna try to talk some sense into him." Rose flew up to his face. "DOC CALM DOWN! YOU GOTTA GET AHOLD OF YOURSELF! YOU WON THE FIGHT SO PLEASE STOP! DON'T YOU RECOGNIZE ME?! IT'S ME ROSE!"

He ignored her and tried to attack her but she dodge and got Franky out of the way of his attack before climbing the building.

Franky lifts his sunglasses to look at him "Looks like there's no getting to him. Did this happen before?"

She shook her head. "No, this is the first time…" (I'm sorry Chopper…)

"In that case we have to-"

"Say that we have to kill him and I'll dismantle you." She gives him a death glare causing him to sweat drop.

"Yes ma'am... Where's he going anyway?"

"I think I know where he's heading! Come on!" Rose ran with Franky to where Chopper is going.

* * *

"WHAT THE HELL?!" Sanji yells as his fight with Jabra got interrupted by Chopper attacking the room.

Nami just got the cuffs off of Zoro and Sniper King and are running away from Chopper.

"Wait, isn't that Chopper?!" Sniper King says as he points to Choppers hat and the others realize that it's him.

"DOESN'T HE RECOGNIZE US?!" Nami yells as she avoids his giant hand.

"GUYS! ARE YOU OK?!" Rose yells as she and Franky run into the room.

"DO WE LOOK ALRIGHT?! WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO CHOPPER?!" Zoro yells as he stops Kaku from attacking Chopper.

"He ate too many rumble balls, but we got an idea! Franky!"

"SUUPPPEEER! Time for a COUP DE VENT!" Franky shoots his attack at Chopper and sent him towards the ocean.

Rose flew outside and pushed Franky into the ocean with her wind so he could get Chopper faster.

"Rose!" Before Rose joined him she was stopped by Nami. "Take these keys and this baby den den mushi with you and go get Robin with Franky! We'll catch up with you after we get the other keys!" Nami tosses the keys to her as she nods.

"No problem! When Zoro and Sanji get the keys shoot them over to the gate!" Rose lands where Franky is while Nami nods in understanding then grabs Sniper King's arm and drags him out of the room. "Sniper King! Come with me!"

Sniper King looks at her in shock. "What?! Why?!"

"I'm gonna prove to you that you're not useless!"

Sniper King keeps looking at her in shock as he's being dragged by her.

* * *

Rose and Franky follow Chimney and Kokoro to the tunnel leading to the Gates of Justice.

"Thanks for the help Chimney and Kokoro! Please take care of Chopper!" Rose says as she and Franky go off to the tunnel.

"Good luck wind pirate!" Chimney says as she waves them off.

"Ngagaga! Don't worry we'll take care of your reindeer friend!" Kokoro takes a swig as she sees Rose and Franky run into the tunnel.

"Oh, before I forget again here!" Rose tossed Franky three bottles of cola while running.

"SUPER! Thanks fre- YOU HAD THESE THE WHOLE TIME AND YOU DIDN'T TELL ME?!"

"I'M SORRY, I FORGOT!" (I was so distracted by his funny personalities that I completely forgot I grabbed some from the sea train.)

He places the bottles in his stomach fridge then sighs. "Whatever, let's get going!"

Those two ran through the tunnel until they reached the room to where Luffy was facing Lucci.

"ROSE, YOU MADE IT! HEY PUNK! WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!" Luffy gives a hard glare to Franky.

Franky glares back "I KEEP TELLING YOU PEOPLE I'M ON YOUR SIDE!"

"He's right Luffy! Where's-" Rose cuts herself off when she sees Lucci blocking the doorway.

Lucci gives off a devilish grin at them while waiting for them.

"Rose, I need you to take Franky to Robin while I keep him busy." Luffy runs to Lucci while Rose flies with Franky to the door. Lucci immediately slams Luffy to the crates then blocks Rose and Franky.

"Leaving so soon?"

"STRONG RIGHT!" Franky launches his fist at Lucci but it didn't do any good causing him to be shocked.

"I'm impressed you managed to defeat Fukuro but that move won't work on me!" Lucci launches a fist at Franky but Rosh pushed him out of the way and made the punch go through her.

Lucci's eyes widened at Roses glare then gave her a devilish smirk "Fufu, so you're the one studying Hell's Comet. I wonder what you want to know from it. How to leave this world or how people are brought _here_?" Lucci added venom in the last word causing Roses eyes to widen.

(Could it be he-?)

"GUM GUM JET PISTOL!" Luffy launched a fast punch in second gear at Lucci to send him flying and causing Franky and Rose to be shocked.

(I can't worry about that now. We have to go!) "Luffy, we'll leave him to you! Good luck!" Rose quickly flew along with Franky out of the room while Luffy and Lucci face off.

"What was up with Straw Hat?! He was steaming!" Franky asks as they flew up the stairs.

"That was second gear. He powers his moves up by pumping up his blood but only for a few minutes."

"Whoa! Hey, what did Lucci mean by Hell's Comet?"

"I'll be more than happy to answer any questions you may have after we get out of here."

"DON'T AVOID QUESTIONS AFTER YOU JUST ANSWERED ONE DAMNIT!"

Rose continued to avoid the topic as they flew through the tunnel.

* * *

(I have to keep fighting! The others are coming for me! I don't want to die!) Robin continues to struggle as hard as she can to not go through the gates while Spandam is trying to forcefully drag her through them.

"WILL YOU GIVE UP ALREADY?! Even if they did manage to pass Lucci there's no way they'll make it here! I set up bombs along the walls of the entrance that are so sensitive that even if the wind girl flew past the doorway she will be blown to bits!"

(What?! No!) "I won't give up! They're coming to save me!"

"No one is coming idiot! I'm finishing the hunt of Ohara my father started no matter what!"

"Ohara is alive as long as I'm here!"

"And how long will that be?!"

They both stopped when they heard an explosion and saw Rose and Franky sent flying into the ocean.

Robin watched the scene in tears. (No!)

"I TOLD THOSE IDIOTS I WANTED THE WIND GIRL ALIVE! Oh well, one less menace for the world to deal with. Let's hurry!" Spandam dragged Robin across the bridge while her tears continued to flow. "Take a good look gentlemen because this one step through the gate will carve my name in history!" Before Spandam can make that step he was shot in the back by an exploding star and was knocked down the stairs causing him to let go of Robin.

Robin and the others looked at the roof of the Justice Building in shock to find Sniper King shooting at the marines around her.

"Way to go Sniper King!" Nami says as she pats him on the back while watching with her binoculars.

"All in a day's work for Sniper King!" He strikes his pose while singing his theme song.

Robin gives a smile while tears continue to stream down her face. (Long Nose. Thank you) Robin gets up to run with the marines about to shoot her.

"MAKE SURE YOU AIM FOR HER LEGS! WE WANT HER ALIVE!" Spandam orders as the men take aim and fire only for their shots to be blocked by Franky.

Franky gives the marines a smirk "Hehe, shots like that won't work on a guy made of steel right Spanda?"

"I'm impressed you were able to think of sensitivity bombs for my wind Spandam. Too bad they can only get you so far." Spandam looks up in horror to find Rose above him cracking her knuckles. "Franky, I trust you to protect Robin. I gotta keep my promise to Kokoro to beat Spandam into next week. Here are the keys and the baby den den mushi Nami gave me." Rose tossed the keys and baby den den mushi to Franky while smirking. "Sniper King should be shooting over the other keys right about now."

On cue the keys landed next to Franky as he nods. "Got it. Don't go too hard on him though I want to take a crack at him."

"Y-YOU GOT ALL THE KEYS?!" Spandam watches in shock but Rose doesn't give him time to calm down as she lands a flying kick right on his nose and continually attacks him while focusing on a wind barrier so the marines couldn't interfere.

As Rose beats on Spandam he notices her crystal necklace. (It couldn't be! That's the only way she could have known those things about me.) "I JUST FIGURED YOU OUT! YOU CAME HERE DIDN'T YOU?!"

Rose slammed him to the ground with her wind before quirking an eyebrow. "If you mean I flew to the bridge then yes I did."

"THAT'S NOT WHAT I MEANT! YOU'RE FROM-" Before Spandam could finish Robin sprouted arms on Spandams body and slapped him like there's no tomorrow.

Rose used her wind to push the surrounding marines into the ocean as she released the barrier to see Robin free of her sea stone cuffs. "Good to have you back Robin."

"Thank you Rose." Robin held back her tears of joy as she puts some of the charging marines in a hold while Franky and Rose fought the others off.

They all stop to see the ships from the Buster Call blast the roof of the Justice Building.

"USOPP! NAMI!" Rose and Robin yelled out but the baby den den mushi spoke up sounding like Nami.

"Don't worry guys we're ok. We're heading your way now. Just hold on until we get there."

Rose sighed in relief "Glad they're ok." .

"Can you keep fighting Robin?" Franky asks as he and Rose get in a stance.

"Of course."

"MEN! YOU CAN KILL THE CYBORG BUT MAKE SURE BOTH GIRLS ARE ALIVE!" Spandam watches in shock as all three of them fought off the marines one after the other.

They all stop when the ships from the Buster Call approach the bridge and go past it to attack the island while the marines on the bridge run away to the ship.

Rose and Franky turn to find Robin on her knees trembling then look in shock to find a warship blasting its own ship in an attempt to stop Luffy.

"Weren't your allies on that ship Spanda?" Franky says in rage as he cracks his knuckles while Rose stands protectively between Robin and the marines.

"It doesn't matter because it's all for justice! I hold the power of the Buster Call so I have all the power! I'll make you a deal Cutty Flam, hand over the girls and I'll pardon you. Why even consider protecting them? One of them is the last demon of Ohara and the other an outsider who wants spirit us away with Hell's Comet!"

(What did he say?) Roses eyes widen in shock at the accusation but grits her teeth as she kept her stance while Spandam kept running his mouth.

"You're not even a pirate Cutty Flam! You should focus on helping the government that protects you instead of going down the path Tom did-"

Franky cuts him off with a strong right. "You never know when to shut up do you? I don't know about this comet, but I doubt this kid wants to spirit people away. Since you were wrong about Robin wanting to revive the weapon why should I believe you about her? Freckles, the others are coming right?"

Rose blinks in surprise then grins (Thanks Franky.) "No doubt about it."

"Then I'm on their side. I'd rather help pirates than World Government scum like you anyway."

Spandam became furious and sent his elephant sword at them but Franky stopped it and slammed the elephant onto Spandam while Rose attacked the marines that charged at her and Robin. Watching how protective they were calmed Robin down and got her to help the others fight off the marines and steal the boat.

"How are you feeling Robin?" Rose asks as she sends the last marine flying.

"I'm alright Rose, things are different now. What did Spandam mean by Hell's Comet?"

Rose looked down in worry. "Well-"

A giant splash shocks them to find Kokoro in her mermaid form and bringing everyone but Luffy onto the deck.

"Are you guys ok?!" Rose went to each one to find them getting up.

"Yea we're fine thanks." Zoro says as he and the other guys look at Kokoro in shock.

"So you're a mermaid Kokoro? That's awesome! Is it true about the age thirty rule?" Rose says as she looks at her with excitement.

"That's right! Once a mermaid turns thirty we're able to live on land because our fins split in two."

"That's so cool!" Rose looks at her with excitement while the others sweat drop at her reaction.

Sniper King turns his head to Zoro "Isn't she a little bit shocked at this?"

Zoro waves his hand dismissively. "Just leave her alone."

"ROBIN!" Nami runs to hug Robin with Chopper clinging to her while Sanji tried to but missed.

"WE MISSED YOU! ARE YOU OK?!" Nami asked with tears in her eyes.

"I'm alright. It's all thanks to you." Robin says with a smile on her face.

Chopper falls off of Nami but Rose caught him. "What the? I can't move!"

"Don't worry doc, I think it's temporary." Rose says with a reassuring grin when the war ships start to surround them. Everyone ran to the bridge to check on Luffy to find him still fighting Lucci. (Crap!) She got her staff out and ready when the marines began to charge and begins to fight alongside the crew.

"LUFFY!" Usopp takes off his mask after he sees Luffy on the ground. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING LYING DOWN LUFFY?! GET UP!"

Luffy turns his head in surprise to see Usopp. "USOPP?!"

"I'M ONLY HERE TO HELP ROBIN! CAT GUY, I'LL BE YOUR OPPONENT! COME AND GET ME!"

"USOPP YOU IDIOT! YOU'RE NO MATCH FOR HIM!"

"AND WHAT CAN YOU DO?!"

"I'M GONNA FINISH HIM OFF!"

"THEN GET UP AND FIGHT! WE'RE NOT DEAD YET! WIN SO WE CAN GO BACK TOGETHER LUFFY!" Usopps words encouraged him to stand up and get back in the fight with Lucci.

(Well said Usopp.) Rose sent the marines surrounding her flying and more are still coming. (Crap, if the others weren't here I could send a twister at them. Come on Luffy!)

"GUM GUM GATLING!" Luffy finished the fight with Lucci and collapsed on the ground. "WE'RE GOING BACK TOGETHER ROBIN!"

The crew cheered for Luffy's victory while the marines stared in shock of Lucci's defeat. After their wave of happiness they were surprised that Luffy couldn't move.

Usopp looks at him in shock "GET UP LUFFY! Rose can't you fly him over here?"

"It's possible, but like I said he would be a moving target for them."

Nami blocks off a marine before speaking. "We can't take the risk. Let's get on the ship and we can-"

Before she can finish one of the warships blew up their escape ship.

"WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO NOW?! THAT WAS OUR ONLY ESCAPE!" Franky yells

(Shit! We're surrounded! Wait, what's that?!) Rose hears a strange voice along with Usopp.

"Who's voice is this?!" Usopp is trying to figure it out then looks into the ocean.

"You can hear it too?" Usopp turns to her in shock as she looks into the ocean. (There's no doubt about it.) "Usopp, are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

Usopp nods then takes a deep breath. "EVERYONE JUMP INTO THE OCEAN!"

Everyone but Rose turns to him in shock then looks in the ocean to understand. Robin uses her devil fruit to drop Luffy to the ocean while everyone jumps and gets caught by The Going Merry.

"WHOO! I LOVE YOU MERRY!" Rose runs to the figure head to hug her then flies up to the sail to blast as much wind as possible while the others steer the ship to safety and escape the buster call.

* * *

"Hey Sniper King, do you know where Usopp went?!" Luffy asks as he and Chopper search for him after they reached safety from the Buster Call and meet up with Galley-La.

Sanji whispers to Usopp in irritation. "They're asking for you 'Sniper King'."

"I can't answer now!" Usopp whispers before turning to the guys in Sniper King's mask. "Never fear! Usopp is safe! He went back first with a boat!"

Luffy and Chopper look at him in disappointment while Zoro sighs. "Why don't they recognize him as Sniper King?"

Rose shrugs. "Just let it go. When he's ready to tell them he'll do it." She leans on the rail but fell when the rail gave in and caught herself before hitting the water then suddenly the entire ship starts to fall apart.

Rose gave a soft look at the broken ship. (… So it's time huh?)

Luffy turns to Galley-La desperately. "ICE-POPS! MERRY'S IN DANGER! PLEASE DO SOMETHING! SHE'S A MEMBER OF OUR CREW TOO!"

Iceberg sighs then looks at the ship "I've never seen such an amazing ship that had the will to keep going after its limits for it's crew. But, it's time to let her rest."

The crew looks at the ship sadly, but nod in understanding as they get off the Merry one last time.

As soon as they're at a safe distance they watch Luffy get on a lifeboat close to the Merry and set the ship on fire for a viking funeral. "Merry, thank you for carrying us all this time."

As Merry began to burn memories of her life appeared in everyone's heads.

Rose widened her purple eyes at the memories that came up. ( _HOLY SHIT! I'M ON THE GOING MERRY!_ ) ( _I-I caught it. AWESOME! THAT WAS SO MUCH FUN CAN WE DO THAT AGAIN?!_ ) _(WOW! THIS IS AN ASTRONOMERS DREAM!_ ) Tears streamed down her face as each memory popped up in her head as she holds her necklace.  
 _  
I'm sorry._

The crew froze in shock at the sound of Merry's voice.

 _I'm sorry I can't go on more adventures with you... But, I'm happy.  
_  
Luffy starts weeping as he yells out to Merry "WE SHOULD BE APOLOGIZING MERRY! I DROVE YOU TO AN ICEBERG! SANJI AND ZORO ALWAYS BROKE STUFF! USOPP ALWAYS TRIED TO FIX YOU, BUT HE WAS NEVER GOOD AT IT! WE'RE SORRY!"

Almost everyone in the crew was weeping at Merry's voice as she kept talking.

 _I was still happy with you._

Rose couldn't keep her eyes off the Merry as tears kept falling. (Merry, I wasn't with you for long and on the day we met I even added to the damage by making a hole in you. I'm sorry... You gave me a home again and for that the only thing I can say is...) "THANK YOU FOR EVERYTHING MERRY! NONE OF US WILL FORGET YOU NO MATTER WHAT!"

The tears couldn't stop as the crew heard the Merry's last words. _Thank you, for taking good care of me all this time._

Once Merry's funeral finished the only thing left behind was her beautiful memories with the Straw Hat Pirates.

TO BE CONTINUED


	11. Chapter 11

_In Central Park of New York City 15 year old Rose was playing the guitar while moving to the rhythm with her guitar case open for money. She's crowded by tourists clapping to the rhythm as she finishes the song._

 _She took my arm,~_  
 _I don't know how it happened.~_  
 _We took the floor and she said,~_

 _Oh, don't you dare look back.~_  
 _Just keep your eyes on me.~_  
 _I said, "You're holding back,"~_  
 _She said, "Shut up and dance with me!"~_  
 _This woman is my destiny~_  
 _She said, "Ooh-ooh-hoo,~_  
 _Shut up and dance!"~_

 _Don't you dare look back.~_  
 _Just keep your eyes on me.~_  
 _I said, "You're holding back,"~_  
 _She said, "Shut up and dance with me!"~_  
 _This woman is my destiny~_  
 _She said, "Ooh-ooh-hoo,~_  
 _Shut up and dance with me."~_

 _After she finishes the song she bows as the tourists applaud and drop money in her case until a booming voice scares them._

 _"WHEN WILL YOU UNDERSTAND THAT YOU CAN'T PLAY HERE WITHOUT A PERMIT ROSE?!" The audience scatters when a muscular middle aged blonde cop walks up to her with a stern expression on his face. Rose grins as she grabs the money and puts the guitar back in the case before turning to him._

 _"Aww, come on Bobby. You know I can't afford a permit! I even have to borrow this guitar from school to play."_

 _"Then you should quit researching fake comets and get more hours at your pizza job! And for the last time my name's not Bobby! It's Robert, but you should be calling me officer!"_

 _"But Bobby suits you better! Wait, no! Smoker suits you best!"_

 _"Quit linking me to that anime character!"_

 _"I can't help it; you're so much like him it's not even funny! You even smoke those gross cigars like crazy every day! The only things missing are the hair color, and the devil fruit."_

 _"We can talk more about my similarities to an anime cop when you come to the station to pay for this ticket." He looks down to write up a ticket but when he finishes she's already making a run for it with the case._

 _"IF I DON'T GET IT I CAN'T PAY FOR IT BOBBY! BY THE WAY, SMOKER IS A MARINE!"_

 _"GET BACK HERE!" He chases her throughout the park and loses sight of her when he runs over the bridge of a bike trail, he runs away from the area to find her while she's hiding under the bridge._

 _"Hehe, it looks like I win again. That makes it Rose: 25. Bobby: 0." She looks at the clock on one of the buildings to find it's 4:30. "Perfect timing to stop me as always Bobby, gotta get to work." Rose makes sure the coast is clear before running to get to her job at Tony's Pizzeria on time._

* * *

Rose woke up from her dream in the middle of the night at Galley-La headquarters and gets out of bed. (Hehe, compared to the marines, Bobby was nothing. Still, that was some of the only fun times I had in that world.)

She opened the window and flies up to the roof and sits down to look at the stars with a soft smile. (I can't believe it's been almost a week since Enies Lobby and we're leaving Water Seven after today. Garp was really scary as the rumors say.) She shudders at the memory of trying to protect Luffy from Garp and earning a fist of love along with Luffy. (I'm glad things turned out alright though. I gained a lot from this adventure.)

Her smile fades when she remembers what Spandam said. ("She's an outsider who wants to spirit us away with Hell's Comet!"… Of all the World Government people did Spandam really figure me out?! What am I gonna do?! I don't care about what those politicians think of me or the rest of the world for that matter. I care more about the crew finding-)

"Hello Rose." Rose snaps out of her thoughts and turns around nervously to find Robin standing behind her. "May I join you?"

Rose cautiously nods as Robin takes a seat next to her. "How are you feeling Robin?"

"I'm a lot better thank you. There's something I want to ask though, why didn't you tell the others about Ohara or CP9 when I disappeared?"

"Well, if I did tell them about CP9 before they revealed themselves Galley-La would have a real reason to kill us for attacking one of their own. About Ohara, since you never told the others before we got here it wouldn't be right to talk about your secret like that without trying to stop you myself. By the way, I'm sorry about bringing it up like that I shouldn't have done that."

"Don't apologize; I placed you in a position where you had no choice but to tell me. However I'm curious, what exactly is Hell's Comet?"

"It's not Hell's Comet it's the Timore Comet I'm not sure why the World Government calls it that. You see, it's a comet that has the ability to travel to other worlds. Even though it has that power it can't just spirit people away like Spandam said. You would need to be willing to leave your world and have an idea of the world you want to go to otherwise every time the comet comes by lots of people would go missing. At least, that's what my parents told me… They managed to come up with a theory on how to travel and on how the comet works but it was lost… Anyway, now that I know what the World Government is afraid of I just have to prove them wrong!" (That's right, I can't give up now! I need to find out what I did for the comet to get me here! If the others find out I'll just have to explain myself! Though, making sure they don't find out can't hurt… At least for now I need to get stronger for the upcoming battles.)

Robin giggles at Roses excitement "I see we have more in common than I thought. It sounds like an interesting topic to research. I'm glad to see Spandam didn't discourage you from it."

"As if I'll let that loudmouth win! I'm gonna go practice my abilities right now so I don't hold anyone back!" She flies off the roof when Robin calls out to her.

"Hold on Rose! Please tell me. Are you or were you a part of any guild for your research?"

Rose tilted her head in confusion as she crosses her arms. "I thought I already told you who I was."

Robin looked at her in confusion until Rose gave her a soft smile. "I'm the Straw Hat Pirates' Astronomer nothing less."

Rose grabs her bag from the room then flew off to go practice leaving Robin with a soft smile as she watches the sun rise from the roof.

* * *

Rose has been practicing her abilities for an hour on a rocky part of the cove and is getting frustrated.

"ARGH! I know I can do this! If I can sneeze like the Last Airbender I should be able to make an air scooter. It'll be easier to keep a chase up if I don't fly especially if I wind up in a tight space so I really want to get the hang of it."

She tries to form an orb of wind and once she does she jumps on it but loses her balance immediately and falls on her butt. "I'm not done!"

She keeps trying and failing at least five times until finally she focuses her balance and manages to stay on until the air fades. "It's a start, I gotta keep it up!"

She keeps going until finally she starts moving quickly while balancing on the air scooter. "I did it… WHOO! YEA, FIRE LORD OZAI'S GOT NOTHING ON ME!"

"Then it's a good thing you didn't go to his world."

"You got that right! I would've- wait, WHAT?!" She turns her head while riding the air scooter to see Aokiji watching her by the frozen water. (OH CRA-)

She was so distracted she collided with a boulder and landed on her back when Aokiji towered over her. "You really shouldn't be using your powers on ridiculous ways to travel."

She quickly stands up and gets in a stance. "I don't want to hear it from a guy that freezes oceans to ride his bike on it! If you're here to arrest me I warn you, I'm a lot stronger than last time!"

Aokiji raises his hands defensively. "Chill Rose, if I wanted to arrest you then you would already be in sea stone cuffs. I'm just here to talk."

She lowers her guard and looks at him skeptically. "About what?"

"Spandam revealed to the Gorosei that the comet brought you to this world."

She widens her eyes in shock then looks down while clenching her fists "I thought so… Do you know how he figured me out? I didn't know the comet was a taboo at the time so I revealed that I researched it, but I never said anything about being from another world."

"You should be more careful about what you say to people about what you know. Also, that necklace is a dead giveaway."

He points at it causing her to hold onto it in shock. "Wait, you know what this crystal is?!" (How could I have been so stupid?! I had a piece of their research this whole time?! This has to be the piece to collect its energy! If I can find out what this crystal is I could get more answers!)

"Not really, but the others in the World Government had an uproar when Spandam mentioned it. Ah, I almost forgot the real reason why I'm here." He digs into his pocket and hands her a letter causing her to be confused.

When she reads it her eyes widen at the realization that it's an invitation to join the Shichibukai. "Please tell me this is a prank marines like to give to pirates."

"This isn't a joke. The Gorosei wants your ability and your information. They agree to not only give you and the crew full pardon but will keep your origins a secret and give you all the information you need to complete your research."

She stares at the letter in shock. (I can't believe it. If I take this offer I could understand the comet in no time. But would Luffy want that? And in the future at the battle of…)

Rose held the letter in front of her face then deeply inhaled through her nose and shot wind out of her mouth to blast a hole in the letter then handed it back to Aokiji. "Like I'd betray my crew so easily. Please tell the Gorosei that the comet itself won't convince me. Oh, and before I forget again I have something for the marines too."

She tosses the tone dial to him. "That should hold enough evidence to get Spandam court martialed for betraying you guys."

He nods with a smile. "Thanks, this is the path you've chosen huh?"

She smiles as she nods. "Yea. I know you actually care about the people unlike other marines, so I'd like to give you a fair warning on something. That's of course if you want it."

"Go ahead."

"I recommend you getting stronger. You're going to have to fight Sakazuki soon to become Fleet Admiral. I'd rather you win, so at least the people could be protected by someone that actually cares about what they need."

He nods in understanding. "Thank you, but you do realize once we part ways we're enemies right?"

"Yup, and I look forward to fighting you Kuzan. Before you go though can you please tell me, why's the government so afraid of the comet in the first place? And why do you call it Hell's Comet?"

"They're afraid of it because they know that other worlds could have knowledge of this world that they don't want out. Technically speaking their fear of people like you showing up has been realized. As for why they call it Hell's Comet, the public knows it as a comet that could spirit them away to the underworld at first sight. You chose a really rough path for yourself if you want to uncover the comet's secret. Good luck Wind Rider." He walks away leaving her completely shocked.

(They're scaring the people with propaganda like that?! Wait, did he just call me-) "W-wind Rider?"

* * *

Rose starts flying back to Galley-La when Nami calls out to her. "ROSE, THERE YOU ARE! COME HERE!"

She lands on the street of Water Seven where Nami and Robin were. "Hey guys, what's up?"

"You're coming with us today to get some clothes! With all that was going on we forgot that you needed some. Of course, with only 20 million left from that party and the furniture we need we can't buy a lot…" (LUFFY!) Nami clenches her fists in rage as she remembers Luffy using most of the money for the party.

Rose puts a hand on her shoulder to calm her down. "Don't worry, I don't need a lot of clothes, so it's not a big deal. If you're that worried about money though, I can help we just need a guitar."

Nami immediately calms down and looks at her with Beli in her eyes causing her to jolt. "You mean you can play? Well why didn't you say so? I'll be right back!"

Nami immediately runs to get a guitar while Robin chuckles at her change in attitude. "You do realize she's gonna make you street perform to pay off your debt."

Rose sweat drops at the realization. "What have I done? …Oh well, I enjoy street performing so I don't mind."

Nami immediately runs back with an acoustic guitar. "Will this work?"

She giggles at Namis excitement "Yea, that's perfect. The song might be weird though."

"Oh please! It's not a problem, go on!" Nami waves her hand to go on while Rose warms up.

She starts playing the opening of "Dance with me tonight" while moving her body to the rhythm.

My name is Olly nice to meet you can I tell you baby~  
Look around there's a whole lot of pretty ladies~  
But none like you, you shine so bright, yeah~  
I was wondering if you and me could spend a minute~  
On the floor up and close getting lost in it~  
I won't give up without a fight~

I just wanna, oh baby~  
I just want you to dance with me tonight~  
So come on, oh baby~  
I just want you to dance with me tonight~

Nami and Robin widen their eyes at the song and realize that a bunch of Water Seven citizens started crowding them and dancing to the song.

Robin smiles as she claps to the rhythm of the second verse. "She's pretty good. What an unusual song though."

Nami stares at the show with huge Beli in her eyes. "Wow, she's amazing! We're gonna be rich!"

"SHE'S A MUSICIAN?!" Both girls turn their heads in shock to see Luffy watching her play with stars in his eyes.

Rose completely ignores everyone around her as she plays the final part.

I just wanna, oh baby~  
I just want you to dance with me tonight~  
Everybody everybody come on now~  
Girl, just close your eyes~  
We can dance all through the night,~  
I just want you to dance with me tonight~  
And everybody sing~  
Girl just close your eyes,~  
We can dance all through the night~  
I just want you to dance with me tonight~  
So come on girl just close your eyes~  
We can dance all through the night~  
I just want you to dance with me tonight~

She finishes the song with a smile and snaps out of it when the crowd applauds her and Luffy runs to her while Nami and Robin collect money from the crowd.

"THAT WAS AWESOME ROSE! CAN YOU BE OUR MUSICIAN?!" He's an inch away from her face with stars in his eyes causing her to lightly blush with a sheepish grin while back away lightly.

"I-I'm sorry Luffy, I can only play the guitar so I'm not good enough to be the musician. You need someone that can play a lot of instruments. But, until you find one I don't mind playing."

"Really?! AWESOME!" He tackles her in a hug causing her face to be completely red until Nami pries him off of her and whacks him in the head.

"LEAVE HER ALONE LUFFY! Let's get going Rose!" Nami drags her away from the crowd as Robin follows them with the guitar.

* * *

"Wow! So cool!" Rose looks in the mirror with excitement as she wears her new clothes that consist of a long black jacket, black sneakers, blue jeans, a blue long sleeve v-neck, a dark purple satchel and dark blue gloves. She looks down at her necklace and touches it with a large grin. (Now that I know that this helped me come to this world I love it even more! I better see if there are any books on crystals in the city!)

Robin looks at her with a grin while Nami is skeptic at her outfit choice "Are you sure you want to go with this? Don't you want to show some skin? It will be easier to get a guy's attention if you dress cute."

Rose nods at her. "When I use my abilities I get pretty cold so covering up is the best. Besides, whose attention would I want?"

Nami gives her a mischievous smirk. "I don't know. There's a cute guy in a straw hat that seems to enjoy hugging you."

Rose widens her eyes and starts blushing as she shifts her eyes everywhere. "W-what are you talking about? Nothing like that's going on between us."

Robin giggles as she crosses her arms over her chest. "So you and Luffy didn't kiss?"

Rose completely froze at Robin's question with Nami looking at her with excitement. "You did?! What happened?! Tell me everything!"

Rose raised her hands defensively to stop them. "Hold on, it was just an accident! How the hell do you know about it anyway Robin?!"

"Zoro told me about your date and your reactions and I pieced it together."

"How many times do I need to say that it wasn't a date?!"

Nami places her hands on Roses shoulders and faces her. "In any case we're going to help you and Luffy get together."

She immediately backs away. "WHAT?! No way! I can't, I mean we don't even know how Luffy feels and I don't know if- Well..." She looks down while blushing. (There's no way I like Luffy like that... Right?! I admit he's cute, sweet, funny, and UGH! I'M GOING CRAZY!) She puts her hands in her hair in confusion as she tries to figure it out.

Both girls giggle at their friend's reaction until Robin places a hand on her shoulder "How about this: we'll figure out Luffy's feelings and when you figure out yours we'll go from there."

Rose nods. "Ok…" Both of them giggle as they leave the store and head down to Galley-La where Zambai comes running.

"STRAW HAT! TAKE A LOOK AT THE-" Rose quickly flies to him and takes him around the corner leaving the girls confused.

"Sorry Zambai, I just need to see what the newspaper says before the others do." (If my secret gets revealed I just need to take out the article.)

"N-no problem. It says that the crew was responsible for the destruction of Enies Lobby and your bounty posters arrived!"

She quirks an eyebrow at this. "That's it? Nothing else?"

"No, I was surprised too. No one in Galley-La or the Franky Family got mentioned except for Franky."

"I see, glad to hear you guys are safe." (Weird, usually they would reveal something like this in a heartbeat… Right, they were waiting for my answer about the position. I better be careful with the next few days with the newspaper.) "Thanks Zambai, sorry for scaring you, let's go."

They both go to Galley-La to read the article and find out about their new bounties.

"AWESOME! 300 MILLION!" Luffy yells as he looks at his poster while Zoro and Robin smirk at their posters.

Nami looks at her poster in shock. "The reporter said that it was for a magazine! At least I look cute but now I'm wanted…"

Chopper looks at his 50 beli bounty in rage. "WHAT'S THE MEANING OF THIS?! I'M A PIRATE TOO! WHY IS MY BOUNTY SO LOW?!"

Sanji looks at his poorly drawn wanted poster in complete horror. "Who… Who is that? NOO! ALL THE WOMEN IN WORLD ARE GONNA LAUGH AT ME!"

Rose looks at her poster in amazement. "I can't believe it." Her picture is of her in a stance wearing a smirk with both of her blades out. She gained a bounty of 97 million beli. (So that's why Aokiji called me that. Wind Rider Rose huh? I like it! And 97 million is pretty sweet! Too bad, I only needed 3 million more to be in the supernova.)

"Hey Rose how's your poster?" Luffy looks at her poster and grins. "Great job! Oh yea, come with me! We got something to settle!" He grabs her hand and starts running out of the building with her. The girls and Zoro grin at Roses frozen reaction while Sanji and Chopper slump in depression about their bounty posters.

* * *

Luffy and Rose are on top of Galley-La getting ready to roof jump. "Ready for the rematch Luffy?"

"LET'S GO!" Luffy catapults himself over the roofs while Rose roof jumps with her wind.

Neither of them are giving an inch as they go neck and neck with huge smiles on their faces. "You've gotten better at roof jumping Luffy!"

"SHISHISHI! Thanks, you've really gotten better with your powers!"

"Thanks, now that I got a bounty I gotta keep up with the name. Like when I do this!" She puts more force in her wind making her able to jump farther until she accidentally collides with a building and starts falling.

Before she uses her wind Luffy stretches his arm to grab her and pulls her to his side as he reaches the finish spot. "You ok?"

She looks down with a blush. "Y-yea, thanks." She gives herself some distance as she regains her composure.

"Looks like I won again. SHISHISHI!"

After regaining her composure she grins "Yup, good job! I'll get you that Water Seven meat on the way back let's get going."

Before she leaves Luffy places a hand on her shoulder. "Hold on, you forgot something."

She looks at him in confusion until Luffy places his lips on hers then immediately pulls back. "I said we would do it again before leaving right? SHISHISHI!"

Her face is completely red and she covers her mouth from the shock. (WHAT THE HELL?!) "L-luffy! You know you can't just kiss people right?!"

"Yea, I know. Before we left Nami told me that once you kiss someone that's the only person you can kiss."

Rose starts clenching her fists in frustration. (NAMI!)

He looks at her with a serious expression. "Hey Rose, mind if I ask you something?"

She immediately freezes (Wh-what's he gonna ask?) "S-sure Luffy."

"Do you really think Usopp will come back?"

She quickly deflates at his question. (What was I expecting? Whatever.) "I don't doubt that Usopp will be back. After all, Sanji saw him practicing."

"Yea…" He looks at the ground causing her to be concerned.

(Luffy…) "Let me guess, you're nervous about whether or not Usopp will actually apologize."

His eyes widened at her words then looks out at Water Seven. "Y-yea…"

She gives him a smile as she puts a hand on his shoulder. "I haven't been with you guys for long, but from what I saw at Enies Lobby Usopp's the kind of guy that would step up when it comes to his friends even if he's scared. I can guarantee that by the time Water Seven is out of our sights the whole crew will be together."

He blinks at her for a moment then gives her his toothy grin. "Thanks Rose, ready to go back?"

"Yea, I can't wait for tomorrow." They both get up and leave to get ready for tomorrow.

* * *

When the next day arrived the crew gathered at the cove where they're waiting for Iceberg to uncover their new ship. "Franky told me to leave you a message: If you're going to be the king of the pirates then, travel with the king of beasts!" He uncovers the ship to the amazement of the entire crew.

Luffy looks at it with stars in his eyes as he jumps onto the ship. "WHOA THIS IS AWESOME!"

Everyone explores their new ship in excitement.

"WOW! This ship's beautiful!" (It's just like in the-) Rose cuts off her thoughts when she looks up and sees something odd on top of the training room/crow's nest. "What's that?"

She flies up to find that there's a separate room above the crow's nest that turns out to be an observatory. (AWESOME!) She managed to go in through the window to find books on astronomy lined up on the bookshelves, a giant telescope, and a desk holding stationary, empty journals and a note.

 **Hey Freckles,**

 **I hope you like the observatory. You can find the switch to open the dome above the desk and the telescope is of my own design. It's a beauty, but it's sensitive so take good care of it. Oh, and you can block out the windows with the switch on the right! Watch what happens when the room is completely dark.**

She follows the instructions and watches as the ceiling lights up as if she's under a starry sky. "Wow!" She unblocks the windows and keeps reading the note.

 **Pretty SUPER if I say so myself! I don't know why the World Government is so scared of a kid for studying a comet but I'm sure you won't give up because of them. Good luck with your adventures and make sure the others don't destroy the ship.**

 **Your SUPER friend,**

 **Franky**

Rose placed the letter back on the desk and examines the telescope with excitement. (This telescope is perfect! I can't wait to try it out tonight!)

She looks around the observatory one more time before jumping out the window and landing on the lawn deck.

"This is a great ship." Robin says as she walks up to her.

"Yea, it's amazing. Where did the others go?" She looks around to find it's only her, Nami and Robin on the ship.

"They went to go get Franky. I think that's him now." All three of them watch Franky air borne and landing headfirst in front of them without his underwear.

(AAAH! Not again!) Rose covers her eyes from the scene while Robin chuckles.

Nami looks at him in shock. "Couldn't they have found a better way to bring him here?!"

Luffy lands on the deck with Chopper while holding up Franky's underwear. "FRANKY! IF YOU WANT YOUR UNDERWEAR BACK YOU'RE GONNA HAVE TO JOIN MY CREW!"

Franky gets up and frowns at him "YOU REALLY THINK I'LL JOIN YOU JUST BECAUSE YOU TOOK MY PANTS?! A LION IS FREE TO BE NAKED SO WHY NOT MAN?!" He puts his arms together in his signature pose scaring everyone.

Luffy looks at him in shock "I underestimated him! He's a real man!"

Nami whacks him on the head. "He's just a pervert!"

Robin steps over to the railing then turns to Luffy. "Would you mind if I help out?"

Rose widens her eyes in remembering what she's going to do then whispers to Chopper. "Hey doc, wanna check to see if there's any cotton candy in the kitchen?"

He looks at her with excitement. "Yea!"

She quickly flies with him to the kitchen while Robin uses her devil fruit ability to grab Franky's family jewels. While Franky was screaming Rose used a blender to drown out the noise while searching the cabinets.

(I refuse to let Chopper see that!) She shivers at the memory of watching Robin grab Franky's family jewels back in her world. "Hmm, we don't have any cotton candy but we have some cookies."

"Sounds good!" Chopper grabs a cookie from her while she bites into one. She turns off the blender when she feels that Franky's torture stopped and turns to Chopper. "Ready to go welcome Franky to the crew?"

He nods as they walk out of the kitchen to see Franky walking up on the deck of the boat with his pants back on while Zoro, Sanji and the others get the ship ready to go.

Rose walks up to him with a smile. "Welcome to the crew Franky. Thanks so much for the observatory, I love it!"

He grins at her with a thumbs up "Anytime freckles, if you got any questions on how the telescope works let me know!"

She nods as the ship starts leaving. "Are you sure you want to leave Straw Hat? We're missing one more person aren't we?" Frankys asks as he lifts his sunglasses.

He nods weakly with a smile. "Yea, it's fine. I've been waiting since Enies Lobby for Usopp but he never came. He made his choice so I'm sure he'll be happy…" The others gave him a soft look in understanding.

(Luffy… Hurry up Usopp!) Rose looks to Water Seven as the crew spots Garp on their tail and throwing cannonballs at them like baseballs.

Rose and the others look at the old man in complete shock as the cannon balls start flying towards them (I deeply respect Ace, Luffy and Sabo for dealing with this guy as kids. Garp's a true monster…) She starts making wind blades with her staff to cut the cannonballs along with the guys while trying to get away.

"GUYS!" Chopper, Nami and Robin look at Water Seven to see Usopp running to the shore with a smile while the others fight off the cannon balls. "GUYS WAIT, IT'S ME! ROSE, CHOPPER LET'S GO FISHING TOGETHER! I DON'T MIND COMING BACK AS VICE CAPTAIN!"

Chopper turns to Luffy "Luffy turn around! Usopp's calling for us!"

"I don't hear anything." He ignores Usopps words as he fights off the cannons.

Chopper turns to Rose "Rose you hear him don't you?! Use your wind to bring him back!"

(Sorry Chopper, this has to be done…) She grits her teeth as she blasts the cannonballs while ignoring Choppers pleas.

Usopp stops at the shore line and loses his smile "GUYS QUIT JOKING! ARE YOU REALLY GOING TO LEAVE ME?! Fine… I see how it is. In that case, I have something to say." He drops to his knees as tears start streaming down his face. "I'M SOOORRRRY!"

Luffy and the others turn to Usopp in surprise while Rose continues to block the cannons with a smile (Thank you Usopp.)

"I'M SORRY FOR BEING STUBBORN! I WAS WRONG! I KNOW I SHOULDN'T ASK THIS BUT CAN I PLEASE COME BACK?! PLEASE, LET ME BE YOUR NAKAMA ONCE MORE!" Usopp doesn't stop crying until a hand suddenly appears in front of him courtesy of Luffy's stretched out arm.

"HURRY AND GRAB MY HAND IDIOT!" Luffy starts crying while the others smile that they got the crew back together as Usopp takes his hand and was pulled back onto the ship.

"Good to have you back Usopp." Rose says with a grin.

"Alright, now that we got everyone here let's raise the sails!" Everyone looks at Franky in confusion. "TRUST ME!"

They agree to Franky's request and raise the sails. "Are you sure about this Franky?" Zoro asks.

Franky nods then gets in his signature pose. "YEA, TRUST THE SHIP DUMMY!"

"Shouldn't we give the ship a name first?" Rose asks.

Franky nods in agreement "I got some suggestions: Iceberg suggested The Thousand Sunny but-"

"I like that name!" Luffy says with the others nodding in agreement

"I also got other suggestions like 'Lion Gang Champion!'" Franky says but the others don't agree causing him to look down depressed.

"Franky, why are you down? We already got the sail up!" Sanji says

"Yea, hurry up and let's go!" Zoro says

Franky gets out of his slump and gets ready. "Alright! You guys better say goodbye to Water Seven cause we're leaving."

Luffy nods then goes to the back of the ship where Garp, Coby and Helmeppo are trailing them. "GRANDPA, COBY AND OTHER GUY! WE'RE ESCAPING FOR REAL NOW! SEE YA!"

"AT LEAST SAY MY NAME DAMNIT!" Helmeppo says in frustration while Garp fumes and keeps throwing cannon balls while Coby yells for them to run.

Franky starts up the dock system. "TIME TO ESCAPE WITH THE SUPER DOCK SYSTEM! COUP DE BURST!" The ship starts flying leaving the marine ship behind them.

"WHOA! THIS IS AWESOME!" Luffy yells in excitement as the ship lands on the ocean far away from the marines.

"Whatever the Going Merry did, this ship can do without fail. If it breaks I'll be able to fix it without flaw so count on me for all of your shipwright needs!" Franky says with everyone grinning at him while Sanji passes the mugs of drinks to everyone.

Luffy steps up with his mug. "This is for Robin and Usopp coming back and to our new nakama! Let's celebrate!"

Everyone clashes their mugs together as the party begins and the start of new adventures await them.

TO BE CONTINUED


	12. Chapter 12

_"Joe, Teresa you're both respected at NYU as professors and you have Rose to look after. I'm telling you both this as a friend please give up on this comet and just focus on your jobs."_

 _Joe slams on his hands on the desk in the study of his apartment while glaring at his and Teresa's colleague Prof. Jacob Adams. "I don't tell you what to research Jake, so I expect you to respect that and leave our research alone!"_

 _"Look, it's just not me there are others in the department that are finding this whole comet crazy. Sure there are some sightings of something but there's no valid proof of it because it's only there for 3 minutes at most and then we can't track it! What the spectators saw could have easily been a shooting star!"_

 _Teresa clenches her fists when she speaks "You and I both know that it's too big and the color is too different for it to be just a shooting star! We just need to find the way to harness the energy of the comet and we can do it! We already figured out its time pattern based on the-"_

 _"ENOUGH! I tried to be nice about it but you leave me no choice! I'm talking to the department head to get you both out of the university! I refuse to have two crackpots ruin the schools reputation by believing in fake comets!"_

 _Joe keeps his glare as he grits his teeth. "According to the head we still have time to finish our research! Tell me something though Jake, is it the school's reputation you're worried about or is it yours when we prove that we're right?"_

 _Jake aims a punch at Joe but Teresa grabs his arm and slams him to the wall. "I suggest you leave now before I get angry."_

 _She lets him go and he composes himself as he shows himself to the doorway. "This isn't over. Once you fail, you'll both be branded as lunatics!" Once he leaves the room both of them calm down and sit down._

 _"We can't give up Joe, no matter what." Tears start coming out in Teresa's eyes as Joe goes to hug her._

 _"Don't worry, just a little bit longer. We just need to find out how to harness the comets energy and we can travel out of this rotten world with Rose. No matter what we won't give up." He makes sure Teresa doesn't see his face as tears fall._

 _All the while 9 year old Rose was listening from her room curled up to the door in tears. "Mom, dad…" (Why am I so useless?! Can't I do anything to help?! I don't want to hear them being ridiculed anymore!) She cried herself to sleep on the floor of her room that night.  
_

* * *

Rose woke up near the brink of dawn in the girl's quarters of the Sunny while wiping the tear streaks off her face. (Glad to see my bad dreams can be a good alarm clock… Mom, dad no matter what, I'd take the comet as a taboo than fake any day. Even if I have to deal with government assholes...)

A few days have passed since the crew left Water Seven and every morning Rose would take the newspaper before the others could grab it and see if the World Government said anything about her secret or her rejecting the offer as a shichibukai. Today was no different as she flies to the top of the observatory and finds the news coo flying to her and gives her the newspaper.

"Thanks again, news coo!" The bird nods then flies off while she goes into the observatory while inspecting the newspaper. (Nothing still… I don't get it. The World Government usually has a field day with this kind of stuff. What are they planning? …*Sigh* no point in worrying I guess. I just need to be careful in the future. At least before everyone gets up I should get back to that book.)

Every day after inspecting the newspaper she would read the encyclopedia on crystals that she grabbed before leaving Water Seven. She started on the second half of the book today and still has no luck on figuring out what the crystal in her necklace is. (Still no luck, if I could just find the name of this crystal I could get more answers. This has to be the piece of my parents' research to absorb astral energies but where do these kinds of crystals come from? … I'll take it one step at a time, for now I'll just be satisfied with the name.) Rose kept her focus on the book until the hatch to the observatory slammed open to Luffy climbing into the room.

"Hey Rose, are you done yet?! Sanji won't let us eat!" He walks up to the desk and pouts causing her to giggle.

"Hold on a second Luffy. I just need to save my place." Rose places a piece of paper in the book then opens the window and jumps with Luffy following until she uses her wind to cushion their fall and walk into the kitchen.

"MELLORINE! Good morning Rose-chan! Here's your breakfast!" Sanji love tornadoes over to Rose with her breakfast as she takes a seat and the others begin to have another loud meal.

(I'm glad the crew can eat like this again. The only one missing is Brook now, I can't wait!) Rose giggles in excitement for the next crew member as she enjoys breakfast and fights off Luffy's hands for her food along with the others.

"Before we go to Fishman Island would it be possible to stop by an island for some supplies?" Robin asks causing everyone to look at her.

Nami looks at the log pose in thought then nods. "Well, if we leave today it shouldn't be an issue with the log pose. I heard of a nearby island so we can stop there." She walks out to change the course of the ship while Luffy, Usopp, and Chopper cheer in excitement and head out.

Rose heads out with Robin to see the island approaching. "So what is it that you need Robin?"

"I just need to pick up a few things in town. Would you mind going with the guys to get some herbs?"

"I don't have a problem with that."

"ME NEITHER ROBIN CHWAN!" Sanji love tornadoes over to the girls with drinks in his hands. "To be with the lovely Rose-chan will be a wonderful adventure! I better make a bento!" He immediately runs to the kitchen while both girls giggle.

Robin looks at Rose with curiosity. "I'm surprised that Sanji's flirting doesn't bother you."

"Well, that's just how Sanji is. Since he does it to all the girls I just find it pretty funny since he's not serious."

She smiles and nods. "Well said."

"WHOOHOO! LET'S GO!" Luffy yells as the ship lowers their anchor on the shore of the island and he, Rose, Usopp, Chopper and Sanji go to the woods to find herbs and fruits while the girls and Franky head into town leaving Zoro to stay with the ship.

* * *

Half an hour has passed and Roses group split in two to get more coverage of the forest. Rose and Chopper searched for medicinal herbs while Sanji, Usopp and Luffy mainly searched for different fruits and edible plants.

Sanji groans in frustration at the group choice as he smokes his cigarette. "Why did I have to be with you guys while Rose is with Chopper?"

"The groups were chosen at random, so let's just get through this before any predators come." Usopp says as he looks around warily for animals then widens his eyes in realization. "By the way, where's Luffy?"

Sanji looks around to find that Luffy wandered on his own. "Damnit, we made groups for a reason. Come on Usopp, let's go look for him."  
Before Usopp can say otherwise Sanji grabs the back of his shirt and drags him into the woods until they find Luffy eating fruit off of a tree.

"LUFFY, GET DOWN FROM THERE!" Usopp yells when Luffy looks at them and jumps down.

"Hey guys, I found some good fruits around here."

Sanji gives him an exasperated sigh. "Your ability to find food never ceases to amaze me." Sanji kicks the fruit tree and lets the fruit pour into his bag. "That should be enough for a while. Let's get going."

Both guys nod until Luffy finds an odd green, yellow and blue colored mushroom by the tree. "Hey guys, look at this weird mushroom!"

The others crowd it with curiosity.

Sanji looks at it with interest. "What a weird coloring. I wonder if it's edible." He goes to touch it but Usopp blocks his hand.

"Don't touch it, what if it's poisonous?!"

Sanji nods in agreement "You're right, let's go find Chopper and ask him about it."

While the two were talking Luffy picks it up. "Looks ok to me."

"LUFFY!" Usopp and Sanji yell as they swat the mushroom off of his hand but when it hits the ground a green spore spews out of it and clouds the three of them.

"AAAAAAAHHHH!" All three of them scream in surprise as the spore gets into their system and pass out.

* * *

After they finished herb collecting Rose and Chopper suddenly heard a scream and turned to the direction of the sound.

"That sounded like…" Chopper cuts himself off as both of them widen their eyes in realization then start running to the direction of the scream.

"Those three had better be ok." Rose says as they both find their three crew mates passed out on the ground.

"GUYS!" Both of them yell as they run to the guys. Rose crouches next to Luffy while Chopper checks Sanji and Usopp.

"They're both breathing." Chopper says as he checks their vitals and tries to wake them up.

"So is Luffy. LUFFY, WAKE UP!" Rose yelled as she lightly shook him until he started to drowsily open his eyes. "Are you ok? What the hell happened to you guys?"

Luffy looks down causing her to be concerned. "Mel-"

Both Chopper and Rose tilt their heads in confusion as Usopp and Sanji start to wake up. "Mel-?"

Luffy lifts his head to show hearts in his eyes as he gets up and love tornadoes in front of Rose. "MELLORINE! Oh Rose-chan, you're as caring as you are beautiful!" Her face goes completely red as she quickly backs away against a tree in shock.

(WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?! DID LUFFY AND SANJI SWITCH BODIES?!) She turns to Chopper who's showing an equally shocked expression. "D-doc, please tell me I didn't lose my mind and you heard him say that."

"I-I heard it too, what about you guys? Are you feeling alr-" Chopper cuts himself off as they watch Usopp climb up a tree to grab some fruit and then a bird half his size tries to grab one but Usopp punched it before it could get it and flew away.

"Dumb bird, that'll teach him for trying to take my fruit. Hey Luffy, Sanji you should try this fruit!" Usopp says as he keeps eating while Sanji is frantic under the tree.

"Usopp get down from there! That bird monster could be nested there!" Sanji says as he waves for Usopp to get down.

Rose stares at the three of them in utter shock. "What… The… Hell?" (It doesn't look like their bodies switched, but what's going on here?!)

Chopper shakes his head to recover from his own shock then freezes finds the mushroom. "GUYS! YOU PICKED THIS MUSHROOM?!"

"Luffy did, what happened to us? Did we really get poisoned?! Did we catch the 'die in 24 hours by mushroom' disease?!" Sanji continues to spout out his worries causing Rose to whack him on the head.

"Calm down for five seconds Uso- I mean Sanji! Chopper, what exactly is that mushroom?"

"It's a persona mushroom! If you pick it the mushroom will let off a spore as a final defense mechanism that will switch the personalities of the people who inhale it!"

"WHAT?!" All four of them scream in shock at the news.

Rose takes a deep breath as she rubs the bridge of her nose. "Ok, let me get this straight. That mushroom switched their personalities?! Is there any way to fix them?!"

Chopper shakes his head. "No there's no known cure, but the effects only last until the spores leave their system, so until then we just have to deal with them. Let's head back to the ship and with the mushroom I can try to find a way to make the effects wear off faster."

She nods in understanding and turns to them but stops when she sees someone missing. "What happened to Usopp?"

All of them look around until they heard screaming. "WHOO! FOOD!" All four of them sweat drop at Usopps cheering.

Rose sighs in exasperation "At least we can find him easily… Chopper, you head to the ship with the others. I'll go make sure Usopp doesn't get himself killed."

Chopper and Sanji nod in agreement but Luffy goes in front of her and takes her hand. "Please let me come with you! With that idiot it's better if the two of us work together!"

She takes back her hand while blushing and was about to refuse but Chopper steps in. "Good idea Luffy, you two go get Usopp while we head back to the ship." The two of them left before Rose could voice any objections.

"MELLORINE! Let's go Rose-chan!" Luffy goes to pick her up but stopped after she whacked him on the head.

"I don't want any funny business from you San- I mean Luffy!" (This is weird even for Oda's standards…)

"Your wish is my command!" Luffy shows hearts in his eyes as he follows Rose into town.

* * *

Usopp ran to the town and followed his nose to the scent of food from a nearby ramen stand. "AWESOME!" He runs to the stand and accidentally knocks a thug over as he orders his food.

"Hey long nose, you bumped into me." The thug says as he and his men surround Usopp while he's eating.

"Shaorry aghbought thasht." (Sorry about that) Usopp says as he spits food at the guys while talking causing them to get irritated.

"DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM?! I'M AXEL, THE LEADER OF THE PISTOL GANG! ANYONE THAT MESSES WITH US GETS A BULLET TO THE HEAD!" The gang aims their guns at him but he doesn't flinch instead he jumps back to the top of the stand and fires his slingshot with exploding stars knocking them down.

Usopp crosses his arms and smirks at them. "I'm Usopp and I'm gonna be- THE KING OF THE SNIPERS!"

The gang gets irritated as they get up but before they can attack him arms sprouted on their bodies and placed them in a hold.

"OK, OK WE GIVE! JUST GET US OUT OF WHATEVER THIS IS!" Axel yells then Robin lets them go and watches them run off as Nami runs over to Usopp as he jumps off the stand.

"Are you ok Usopp? You are Usopp right? What exactly was that?"

"Yea, I'm fine. And of course it's me Nami, who else could I be?"

"The way you were acting almost made us mistake you for Luffy. By the way, where are the guys and Rose? We thought you guys went to get herbs."

Usopp snaps his fingers in realization. "That's right; I kind of took off because of the smell of ramen. Oh well, I'm sure Sanji-Luffy and Usopp-Sanji will be fine."

Robin quirks an eyebrow at him. "What do you mean by Sanji-Luffy and Usopp-Sanji?"

"Oh yeah! See, Luffy picked up a weird mushroom called the persona mushroom and its spore mixed up our personalities."

Nami widens her eyes in realization. "So what you're saying is that you have Luffy's personality, Sanji has your personality and Luffy has-"

"USOPP! WHERE ARE YOU?!" Rose yells as she flies in the air searching the streets.

"USOPP! DON'T WORRY ROSE-CHAN ANYMORE THAN YOU HAVE IDIOT!" Luffy yells as the three of them look to see them searching for Usopp.

Usopp goes to call out to them but Robin covers his mouth before he could say anything and takes him to an alleyway with Nami following to watch them pass by.

"Weird, I could have sworn I heard Usopp yelling earlier. I hope nothing bad happened to him." Rose searches the street for him in the air then lands in frustration when she sees that it's too crowded.

Luffy tilts his head in thought "Knowing me, he would be at some of the restaurants. I think the restaurants are this way." He takes Roses hand and starts heading to the restaurant district.

(This is too weird, I'm glad this isn't permanent. I know it's still Luffy but it just isn't right unless he's himself…) She takes her hand back and starts walking with him. "Good idea Luffy, we should get going."

Both of them leave the area while Nami and Robin grin as they let go of Usopp.

Usopp moves his limbs then starts whining "WHAT DID YOU GUYS DO THAT FOR?!"

Both girls look at each other then Robin follows the pair with her eyes while Nami turns to Usopp. "Hey Usopp, wanna go on an adventure?"

His eyes widen in excitement "YEA!"

Nami nods in approval "Great, then let's go." All three of them trail Rose and Luffy to see what will happen next.

* * *

Both Rose and Luffy checked different restaurants in the district but still no sign of Usopp. They start entering the third restaurant where she goes to the host "Excuse me, have you seen a guy with a long nose, curly black hair and overalls?"

The host shakes his head. "I'm sorry miss, I haven't seen anyone with that description."

She nods in understanding. "Thank you anyway. Come on Luffy, we should-" She turns to find Luffy flirting with one of the waitresses.

"For a beautiful lady such as yourself. I'd be more than happy to help." Luffy helps the waitress bring the tray of food to the customer.

The waitress blushes at the gesture. "Th-thank you very much-"

"Monkey D. Luffy my dear." Luffy bows to her then kisses the back of her hand.

Rose looks at the scene in surprise. (That mushroom really works. He's exactly like Sanji… Why do I feel annoyed all of a sudden? Whatever, I'll search on my own …) She walks out of the restaurant with an irritated expression and was stopped by Axel and his gang of 40 guys.

Axel walks up to her while his goons snicker. "Hey cutie, you said you were looking for a long nosed guy?"

She twitches an eyebrow "Yea, that's right. You've seen him?"

He gives her a smirk. "Maybe I have, maybe I haven't. My knowledge doesn't come cheap you know." He puts his face to her ear. "What are you willing to pay for my information?" He goes to put his arm around her but before he could touch her she twisted his arm behind his back them slammed his head to the ground.

"I'm in no mood for this crap! Either tell me or get the hell away from me." She lets him off and then used her wind to slam him to some of his guys then glares at them. "So what's it gonna be?"

Axel gets up completely pissed. "MEN, SWARM HER!"

The men surround her and when some of them try to attack her from behind they suddenly get slammed to the ground by Luffy. "LEAVE HER ALONE ASSHOLES!"

She turns around in surprise to see Luffy ready to fight them but is still a little mad. "Thanks Luffy, but I can take them so please don't pull the chivalry crap on me."

"Chival- what? I don't know what that means, but I'm not gonna hog the fight. Wanna see who can beat the most? Winner gets meat."

She looks at him in surprise. (L-luffy? Glad to have you back!) She grins at him then gets in a stance as she dodges an attack. "Fine by me, but let's not count the boss in this. I get dibs on beating him up."

He nods with a grin. "Sounds good to me!" They both charge at the guys and take them on all at once. The thugs try to shoot at them but the bullets ricocheted off Luffy and went through Rose and completely scared them.

"WH-WHAT THE HELL ARE THEY?! THEY'RE MONSTERS!" The remaining thugs run leaving their beaten comrades and Axel behind.

Axel turns to the running men in frustration "YOU COWARDS! GET BACK HERE!" He tries to chase them but Rose goes in front of him and cracks her knuckles.

"Now then, you said something about seeing my friend?"

He gulps before quickly nodding. "Y-yea, we saw him at the ramen stand down the street! PLEASE SPARE ME!" He bows begging for mercy with Rose turning away from him.

"Thanks, ready to go Luffy?"

He nods as they're about to leave but a bullet was fired by Axel and went through her.

She turns around completely annoyed. "Just when I showed mercy too. One sec Luffy." She goes back and gives Axel a flying kick to the nose and slams his body to the building and knocked him out.

"THAT WAS AWESOME ROSE-CHAN!" Luffy love tornadoes over to her. "I think you got more of them so I'll get you whatever you want after we find Usopp." He puts an arm around her shoulders then starts walking with her.

She blushes at the contact but lets it go this time. (I guess it didn't wear off yet… Like I said to Robin the flirting's just how Sanji is, so I shouldn't be mad at Luffy for Sanji's personality even if he gets distracted. At least until it wears off I'll humor him.) "Lead the way Luffy."

* * *

Rose and Luffy make it to the ramen stand and walk up to it with Luffy's arm still around her.

Rose gets away from Luffy's arm then goes to the young lady manning the stand "Excuse me miss, have you seen a guy with curly black hair, a long nose, and overalls?"

She nods. "I sure did, he made a scene in front of here because he messed with the Pistol Gang. That guy was nuts he even yelled something like 'I'm gonna be the king of the snipers!'"

Rose puts a hand over her mouth to hold back from laughing. (BWAHAHA! THAT'S TOTALLY LUFFY'S PERSONALITY!) "I-I see, do you know where he went?"

She shakes her head. "I'm sorry, I saw him walking with two girls though. One with orange hair and another with black hair. Are they friends of yours?"

Luffy nods. "Yea, that's Nami and Robin. Glad to see he's ok. Wanna hang out some more before heading back Rose?"

Rose tilts her head at him in confusion. (I guess the spore left his system this time. If it was Sanji he'd be jealous, I'm glad nothing too bad happened. Before I get back I should get some salt ready for the next arc.) She shakes her head to him. "I got some errands to run so you can head back. Sanji should be making lunch right now so you should get going."

He shakes his head then hearts appear in his eyes again. "No way, I'd be more than happy to help you Rose-chan!"

She sweat drops at his reaction. (Another false alarm?) "Well, if that's what you want then ok." She gives him a smile when the ramen lady hands each of them a small bowl of ramen.

"You two make a cute couple! Consider these on the house." She says with a smile causing Rose to blush.

"Th-thank you, but we're not a couple." Rose says as she and Luffy eat their bowls

She nods in understanding then looks at Luffy with a smile. "Really? Then would you like to go on a date with me cutie?"

He gobbles up the ramen then looks at her blankly. "No thanks, I'm already on a date. Let's go." He takes Roses hand and starts walking away with her causing her to be shocked.

(What the- Now I know this isn't Sanji's personality anymore. But this isn't fully Luffy's either… I get it, it's fading and his original personality is taking over but some of Sanji's is lingering. Wait a minute, did he just call this a-) "L-luffy, did you just say we were on a date?"

He stops and tilts his head in confusion. "Yea, wasn't it obvious?"

She blushes at his statement. "Hold on Luffy, you know what a date is right?"

"Yea, it's when the people who kissed hang out together right?"

(W-well that's the gist of it I guess but…) "Well yea, but-"

"If it's a date then it's a date! What did you need to get anyway?"

She sweat drops at his bluntness then lightly giggles (There's the Luffy I know. I don't mind hanging out with him as long as he's himself. Still though, why did his heart eyes last with me the-)

"Hey Rose!" She snaps out of her thoughts to Luffy hugging her. "Wake up Rose! Where did you need to go?"

She immediately blushes then gets out of his grip. "S-sorry about that Luffy. I just need to get some salt come on." Rose leads the way to the store with Luffy following while Usopp, Nami and Robin are hiding behind some barrels.

Usopp looks at them in confusion "Huh? Don't we already have enough salt?"

Nami nods "You're right, I wonder what she needs it for?"

"Maybe to ward off evil spirits." Robin says with an unchanging grin causing both of them to pale.

"DON'T SAY THAT ROBIN! THAT'S JUST ASKING FOR THEM TO COME!" Usopp yells causing Nami to whack him on the head.

"QUIET DOWN YOU IDIOT! Those two will be out any minute! Wait, did the spore leave your system?"

He blinks for a moment. "Oh yea, I guess I'm back to normal. But shouldn't you be quiet too. You're louder than me."

"What was that?!"

"I think you both should be quiet. They're right here." Robin points to Luffy and Rose looking over the barrels with Rose glaring at Nami and Usopp.

Usopp immediately hides behind Nami while sweat dropping. "H-hi Rose, good news I'm back to normal isn't that great?" He lightly chuckles but the unchanging glare causes him to tremble.

"Y-yea we made sure Usopp didn't do anything stupid with Luffy's personality after we dealt with the Pistol Gang!" Nami says with a nervous grin.

Rose nods then crosses her arms over her chest. "I see. How long have you been following us?"

"Since you guys went to the restaurant district. Good job taking down the Pistol Gang by the way." Robin says with an unchanging grin causing Rose to get embarrassed.

"So those guys were a gang?" Luffy says.

Usopp nods. "Yea, they were easy to handle by the great captain Usopp! All I needed was my slingshot and they fell to their knees!"

"I would recommend using that slingshot for the incoming marines Usopp." Robin says as she points to the group of marines heading their way.

"THE TIP WAS RIGHT! THE STRAW HATS ARE HERE! GET THEM!" The marines charge at them while they make a run for it to the ship.

"ALRIGHT! NEXT STOP FISHMAN ISLAND!" Luffy yells as he throws his arms to two trees up ahead and catapults himself with the others to the deck of the ship.

Usopp and Nami scream in fright while Robin chuckles and Rose laughs. "HAHAHA! Glad to have you back Luffy!" Rose uses her wind to cushion the fall as they land on the deck while Nami and Usopp whack Luffy for the catapult.

"Franky, we should get moving the marines are on our tail." Robin say as the marines start coming into view.

"NOT A PROBLEM ROBIN!" Franky runs to the engine room to raise the anchor while Usopp gets the ship moving with Nami navigating them away from the island before the marines could catch them.

"NAMI SWAAN! ROBIN CHWAAN! ROSE-CHWAAN!" Sanji slams the kitchen door open and love tornadoes over to the girls to hand them their drinks.

Rose takes the drink with a soft smile. "Thanks Sanji, I'm glad you got your personality back."

"Thanks Rose-chan! I'm more than happy to be myself again!"

Zoro gets up from his napping spot with a smirk "I don't know. I wouldn't mind having you be scared of me love cook."

Sanji's eye twitches as he aims a kick at Zoro. "SHUT UP MOSS HEAD! I'LL BE MORE THAN HAPPY TO KICK THAT SMIRK OFF YOUR FACE!"

"Oh yeah Mr. 'Please don't kill me Zoro'?" Zoro chuckles as he dodges Sanji's kick and gets in a leg and sword clash.

Chopper walks out of the infirmary and watches the clash. "So the spore wore off huh? Too bad, I just finished a medicine that could cure it."

Rose gives him a soft smile. "I'm just glad everything ended well."

"HEY GUYS, LOOK AT THIS BARREL!" Luffy yells as he points to a barrel floating in the water.

(YES! IT'S TIME TO MEET BROOK!) Rose runs to the side of the boat to see the barrel as Zoro fishes it out and most of the others surround it.

"It looks like alcohol preserves." Nami says

"I think it's left as a prayer to the gods for safe voyage." Robin says

"I say we drink it." Zoro says

"IDIOT, YOU'LL BE CURSED!" Usopp yells

"I say we open it." Rose says as Luffy approaches the barrel.

"Let's see what we got here!" He opens the barrel when a flare shoots out of it and into the sky.

"What was that?" Chopper asks while everyone looks to the flare in confusion.

"We better be careful we might be targeted." Franky says when Nami starts running to the navigation room.

"GUYS! WE GOTTA GET MOVING A STORM'S COMING!" A wind from the storm proves her point as thunder clouds come rolling in quickly.

The crew gets into position as they navigate the ship through the raging storm and into safety.

* * *

Usopp sighs in relief as he looks at the dark skies of the Florian Triangle. "Glad we're safe but what's with the sky? It shouldn't be night yet."

"I don't think we're in the New World yet." Zoro says with Franky nodding in agreement.

"You're right, we shouldn't relax. I think we're in the Florian Triangle."

Luffy looks at him with excitement. "Great! I wonder what type of monsters will be here?!"

"M-MONSTERS?!" Usopp starts trembling in fear.

Sanji lights up his cigarette and holds the flame under his face. "That's right. You weren't there when Kokoro warned us. Listen carefully Usopp, in this ocean hundreds of ships mysteriously vanish. That's not all a ghost ship filled with the corpses of its passengers sail these waters aimlessly looking for more passengers."

Usopp and Chopper start trembling while Rose nods as she gets her guitar ready. "You're right Sanji; they also say that on one of those ghost ships an afro skeleton rides this sea to meet fellow travelers with a song just like this." She plays the opening of Binks' Sake and starts singing. "YOHOHOHO~ YOHOHOHO~ YOHOHOHO~ YOHOHOHO~" Rose keeps playing the song while Usopp and Chopper scream.

Usopp runs in front of her causing her to stop. "STOP THAT! IS THAT WHY YOU BOUGHT THAT BAG OF SALT?! IF I HAD KNOWN I WOULD HAVE PREPARED ON THE ISLAND! No wait, I got some extra gear!"

Chopper clings to Usopps leg in fright. "Give me some too Usopp!" Everyone freezes when they hear Binks' Sake playing again in a more eerie tone.

Usopp turns to Rose in fright. "We get your point Rose, so please stop playing."

She raises her hands away from the guitar. "This one isn't me. I think it's that ghost ship behind us." She points to the giant ghost ship where Brook is singing Binks' Sake causing everyone but Rose to freeze at the sight of it.

"YOHOHOHO~ YOHOHOHO~ YOHOHOHO~ YOHOHOHO~" Everyone looks in shock to see Brook on the ghost ship singing and sipping tea.

(IT'S REALLY HIM! I CAN'T WAIT!) Rose looks at the ghost ship in excitement while everyone else looks at the ship in shock.

Most of the crew members scream in fright at the sight. "AAAAH! SKELETON ON A GHOST SHIP!" 

TO BE CONTINUED


	13. Chapter 13

Luffy was eagerly waiting to go up to the ghost ship to meet the skeleton while Zoro is making the others draw straws. "Alright, the three with the shortest straws go with Luffy and makes sure he doesn't do anything stupid. Got it?"

The crew nods as they draw their straws.

(Please let me go meet him!) Rose nervously picks her straw to be one of the three that goes with Luffy. She pumps her fists in excitement. "Yes!"

Robin chuckles at her excitement. "You seem happy to go."

She eagerly nods. "Of course! I've always been a fan of magic and the supernatural, so this is exciting! Besides, who wouldn't want to meet a singing skeleton?"

Usopp sweat drops at her answer. "That explains why you were excited when you learned that Kokoro was a mermaid..."

"Oh come on, that was awesome."

"Hey Rose come on! Sanji and Nami are coming too!" Luffy says as he runs to her while Sanji and Nami drag their feet.

"Alright, let's go!" Rose uses her wind to get the four of them flying off the Sunny and onto the ship where Brook was waiting for them.

Brook tips his hat to them. "How do you do? Pardon my lack of introduction. It's been so long since I've seen another ship that I couldn't believe my eyes. Because skeletons don't have eyes! YOHOHOHO! My name is Dead Bones Brook. Please come in, and make yourselves at home."

Luffy looks at him with excitement and Sanji and Nami look at him in shock. Rose smiles and places a hand on her heart as she politely bows. "It's a pleasure to meet you Brook, my name is Rose and over here are my friends Luffy, Sanji and Nami."

Brook widens his eyeholes then steps up to her and Nami. "The pleasure is all mine my dear. It's been a while since I've seen such beautiful young ladies."

Nami waves her hands defensively. "Oh no we… Help me out Rose."

She shrugs her shoulders. "Relax, I think he's harmless."

He fixes himself up a little then walks up to them "Would either of you like to show me your panties?"

Nami immediately hits him on the skull. "LIKE HELL!"

Brook gains a large lump on his skull and falls to the deck while laughing. "YOHOHOHO! My, what a feisty one! I felt that all the way down to my bones! Because I'm only bones you see."

"SHUT UP!" Nami yelled in fury while Luffy was laughing while Sanji watched the scene in shock.

Rose turns while shaking from holding back her laughter. "Sorry Brook, you can't see mine either." (BWAHAHAHA! I'm so glad I get to see this!)

Luffy recovered and faced him. "Hey, do skeletons poop?"

Sanji turns to him in disbelief. "THERE ARE A TON OF QUESTIONS TO ASK BEFORE THAT ONE!"

Rose turns to them and tilts her head in thought. "Wait, shouldn't we ask if he can pee first?"

Nami goes to whack her on the head but her fist went through her. "THAT'S ENOUGH FROM THE PEANUT GALLERY!"

Brook gets up and grabs his cup of tea and sips it before answering. "Yes, I pee and poop."

"HAVEN'T YOU HEARD OF TMI?! YOU DIDN'T NEED TO ANSWER THAT!" Sanji calms himself down a little then points to Brook. "Anyway, how can you talk when you're nothing but bones? What the hell happened to this ship? We need answers on what's going on in these waters."

Luffy crosses his arms and walks up to Brook. "Before all that, I have an important question for you. Will you join our crew?"

Sanji and Nami look at him in shock while Rose shows stars in her eyes.

Brook takes a sip of his tea then he nods. "Ok."

Sanji and Nami share a cloud of depression while Rose and Luffy share a look of excitement until Rose steps up. "Sweet! Come on guys; let's show our new crewmate the ship!" Rose uses her wind to get them all flying to the Sunny causing Brook to be shocked.

"Oh my! You're a devil fruit user too?! I can feel the wind creating goosebumps on my skin! Of course I would if skeletons had skin! YOHOHOHO! SKULL JOKE!"

Rose chuckles at the joke. "You're gonna fit in perfectly Brook." She lands the five of them on the deck causing everyone to be shocked by Brook.

Brook steps up and tips his hat to them. "Hello everyone! How do you do? My name is Dead Bones Brook. A pleasure to meet you." He turns to Robin. "Why hello there young lady would you show me your panties?"

Nami whacks him on the head. "ENOUGH WITH THAT QUESTION!"

"AAAH! A SKELETON!" Usopp and Chopper try to pass it off as a dream but it doesn't work causing them to scream.

"Luffy, what the hell is going on here?!" Zoro asks

Luffy chuckles at the reactions. "Isn't he funny? He's joining the crew."

"I WON'T ACCEPT THAT!" Zoro turns to Sanji, Nami and Rose. "WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THREE DOING WHEN HE WAS ASKING A SKELETON TO JOIN THE CREW?!"

While Sanji and Nami were bowing their heads in shame Rose crossed her arms over her chest with a smile. "Sorry Zoro, but I'm on board with this. Brook's a good guy, so why not give him a chance?"

Zoro looks at her in confusion while Brook steps into the ship. "YOHOHOHO! Let's not waste time in the cold air out here. Let's all go inside and have some dinner."

Sanji runs to the kitchen in irritation. "DON'T GO DECIDING THAT ON YOUR OWN!" The rest of the crew followed him into the dining hall to get some answers from their new friend.

* * *

After hearing Brook's explanation about his devil fruit the crew continues to question him about what he is.

"If you're a skeleton then what's with the afro?" Zoro asks

"I have very strong hair roots" Brook says causing Zoro to shrug.

Usopp holds up a cross at him. "So, are you a ghost or not?!"

Brook turns to them. "I strongly dislike ghosts! I scream as soon as I see one!"

Nami held up a mirror. "Have you seen yourself in the mirror lately? You're scary too."

Brook screeches fearfully. "Take the mirror away from me!"

Usopp looks at the mirror and realize that he has no reflection. "WHAT THE-? YOU'RE NOT REFLECTED IN THE MIRROR!"

Luffy looks at Brook in excitement while Chopper screams in fright. "ARE YOU A VAMPIRE?!"

Most of the crewmembers look at him in fright or in battle mode when Usopp looks down at his feet. "WAAH! YOU DON'T HAVE A SHADOW EITHER!"

Before anyone can scream further Rose slams her fists on the table causing them all to look at her as she glares at them. "THAT'S ENOUGH! EVERYONE, CALM THE HELL DOWN ALREADY!" She turns to Brook and bows her head. "Brook, I'm sorry about the reactions. May you please tell us what's going on?"

Brook nods as he sips his tea. "Very well, but first you all should know that me being a skeleton and not having my shadow are two different things. Some years ago a man snatched my shadow away. When someone's shadow is stolen that person can no longer go out in the sun otherwise they would turn into ash. Also, I cannot be seen in a mirror or in a photograph. In short my existence is rejected by the light. While my friends died however, I remain alive and kicking even though I'm a skeleton! YOHOHOHO!"

"Hey, are you alright?" Franky asks while Brook keeps laughing.

"I'm just really happy! Today is a wonderful day for meeting you all. I don't know how long it's been since I've been wandering in this fog, but meeting you all today brought me great joy away from my loneliness." Everyone gave him a soft look as he walked over to Luffy. "You invited me to join you, and I'm really grateful for that. But, I'm afraid I have to decline."

Luffy looks at him in shock. "EH?! WHY?!"

"Without my shadow I cannot go out into the sun. Right now, I'm being protected by the fog of this cursed ocean. Even if I could leave these waters it would only be a matter of time before I turn to ash. Until I can get my shadow back I need to stay in this ocean until that miracle day arrives."

"In that case, we'll get your shadow back! After all, we're friends now! Tell me who stole it!" Luffy says causing Brook to look at him in surprise.

"You're a good person but I cannot tell you. You shouldn't say that you would die for someone that you just met."

Sanji looks at him with curiosity as he puffs a smoke from his cigarette. "Is the enemy that strong? Why not just tell us the name?"

Brook shakes his head. "Nope, I won't tell! However, to honor this lovely day how about a song? I'm proud of my abilities as a musician."

"YOU'RE A MUSICIAN?! PLEASE BE MY NAKAMA!" Luffy yells with stars in his eyes

"YOHOHO! Sorry, let's sing a- WAAAAH! A GHOST!" Brook jumps in fright as he sees Perona's ghost in the kitchen causing everyone to turn and look at it in shock.

The crew follows the ghost outside to find them closed off and trapped behind the gate.

Brooks looks around the gate in terror. "This isn't good! You guys didn't pick up a floating barrel did you?"

Luffy nods. "Yea why?"

"That was a trap! The ship was targeted ever since. Now you guys are on the ghost island, Thriller Bark!"

"WHAT?!" Most of the crew yells in shock

Nami looks at the log pose. "There wasn't any mention of an island here!"

"That's because this island came from the West Blue. However, today has really been a joyous day! Not only have I met people again, but I can go get my shadow back!" Brook jumps to the front of the ship then turns to the crew and bows to them. "I humbly thank you all for your hospitality. In order to escape I recommend heading to the back gate before it's too late. I bid you all farewell and hope we meet again! YOHOHOHO!" He jumps off the ship causing everyone to run to the side of the ship in shock as they watch Brook run on water over to the island.

"Let's do what he says Luffy. It's dangerous here!" Usopp says with Nami and Chopper nodding but when Luffy turns to them with excitement on his face.

"Did you guys say something?"

The three of them slouch in defeat. "Too late, we're gonna be stuck here…" Nami says when Rose approaches them.

"Relax, this will be interesting! If it'll help I'll give you these." She gives each of them a pouch of salt.

Chopper looks at it in confusion. "What do we need this for?"

"It's for the creatures on the island. I read in a book that to get rid of zombies you need to throw salt in their mouths to purify them."

They nod with a smile. "Thanks Rose, hopefully we won't need it." Usopp says as he places his pouch in his bag.

Robin looks at the gates. "Even if Luffy wanted to leave it's not possible since we're closed off by the gate."

"In that case, let's get going!" Luffy says as he has his gear ready to catch the ghost.

"Hold on Luffy, I have the 'I can't go on an island disease'!" Usopp says with Nami and Chopper nodding.

"Well, in that case you guys stay here with the others and we'll go check it out." Luffy says as Sanji, Rose, Robin and Franky gather to get ready to go.

Rose nods with a grin. "Great! I can send us flying there in a-"

"Hold on freckles, if you don't mind I have a small boat I want us to test." Franky says.

(Wait, didn't something happen here?) Rose looks at him in confusion. "What kind of boat Franky?"

"It's a surprise!" He turns to Nami, Usopp, and Chopper. "Since you three don't want to land in it why not try riding on it first!"

"BRING IT!" Usopp yells as he, Nami and Chopper go to the dock system and take a ride on the Mini Merry II.

Everyone looks at the boat in excitement while the three of them ride the boat.

Rose looks to the boat in thought then widens her eyes in realization of what's going to happen. (Oh crap! This isn't good!) "WAIT, GUYS! COME BACK!" Rose jumps up to the railing and starts flying off until Luffy pulls her back onto the boat.

"Hold on Rose. It's not fair to sneak a ride on the Merry."

"That's not it Luffy! We gotta bring them back they're-"

"WAAAH!" Nami screams causing all of them look to the ocean but they lost sight of them in the fog.

"Shit!" Rose tries to push the fog away with her wind but the crew still can't find them. "I'm gonna try to get a better view of them!" She starts to fly off the ship when she is grabbed and pinned down onto the deck by an invisible force causing the others to surround her.

"Rose- chan are you alright?!" Sanji asks.

"Someone's holding me down and…" She realizes that the invisible force is groping her chest causing her to blush in embarrassment and get angry. (OH HELL NO! How do you like this Absalom?!) She quickly sends Absalom flying off of her about ten feet in the air then slams him through the deck with as much force as possible causing him to scream in pain. "TAKE THAT! YOU INVISIBLE SON OF A BITCH!"

"MY SHIP! WHAT THE HELL DID YOU THROW THROUGH THE DECK?!" Franky yells.

"Sorry Franky, but that needed to be done. Everyone, be careful we have an invisible intruder onboard!" Rose says when the hatch opens up.

"He's on the deck!" Luffy says as he gets in a stance.

Everyone gets tense while waiting for his next move when he grabs Robin while she pushes him back with her arms.

"ROBIN!" Everyone goes after him until Absalom stops and hides while the ship is drifting from the waves and got caught in a giant spider web at the entrance of the island.

"What the hell?" Zoro tries to cut the web but it's no good.

Rose looks around the ship in frustration. (Crap, Absalom got away, the pervert. I hope Nami and the others are ok, I gave them some salt so they should be alright. What's next in this arc? We go through the graveyard then the mansion where…)

"ROSE, COME ON! WE GOTTA GET GOING!" Luffy yells as the others wait at the entrance for her.

She jumps off the ship to join the group as they travel through Thriller Bark to find their friends.

* * *

"WAAAH! WHAT THE HELL IS WITH THIS ISLAND?!" Nami yells as she, Usopp and Chopper run through the graveyard trying to avoid the zombies but they surrounded them and started grabbing them.

"AAAH! LET GO!" Usopp yells when they bite him. "WAAAH! I'VE BEEN BITTEN!"

"USOPP!" Chopper yells when he reaches his pouch for the salt, slaps a hand full of it into the zombie's mouth and purifies it causing him to lose his shadow.

The zombies look at him and start screaming. "AAAH! HOW DID THEY KNOW ABOUT THE SALT?!" The zombies back away leaving the three of them confused.

Nami and Usopp look at Chopper in confusion. "The salt actually worked?"

He nodded. "Y-yea, but it's weird though. What was it that was coming out of the zombie?"

"M-maybe it was the zombie's soul." Usopp says as he starts trembling.

"We'll talk about it later! Let's hurry before they attack again!" Nami says as they start running when reinforcements arrive and start chasing them.

"AAAH! THEY CAN RUN?! USOPP SALT STAR!" Usopp shoots salt into some of pursuing zombies' mouths and purifies them.

"Good job Usopp, here's my salt for ammo." Nami says as she tosses him her salt pouch when they stop to catch their breath right before the mansion.

Usopp slouches as he pants. "We finally made it… I'm exhausted."

Chopper looks at the mansion with excitement. "I guess we can meet Dr. Hogback after all! I can't wait!"

"At this point we have no choice if it means to get away from the zombies." Nami walks through the door with the others following her.

* * *

After travelling around the island Luffy's group found two of Perona's ghosts approaching them.

"OOOH! THE GHOSTS ARE HERE! LET'S CATCH THEM!" Luffy tries to catch one with his net, but it goes through it.

(I gotta show the guys what the ghosts can do. Maybe I can go Ghost Buster style on them!) "Wind Vortex!" Before the ghosts can touch the others, Rose creates tornadoes on her hands to draw the ghosts to her like a vacuum. The ghosts went through her and caused her to drop on her hands and knees in depression. "I'm so useless. I don't deserve to travel to other worlds. The comet should just send me to a dark void…"

Sanji runs to her and tries to cheer her up. "Aww Rose-chan, don't say that! You're perfect in my world!" The others widen their eyes at Roses negativity and listened to the ghosts chanting 'negative'.

"It appears these ghosts lower a person's spirit at the touch." Robin says.

Luffy turns to her in shock. "What? Is Rose gonna be ok?!"

"I think it's temporary."

Zoro gives off a doubtful huff. "She's being pitiful. Only weaklings let their spirits break by some ghosts." One of the ghosts goes through him causing him to drop on his knees. "I'm sorry I was born. I'm no better than dog food. No wait, I don't even deserve to be dog food."

"That's what you get for insulting Rose-chan! Still though, it looks like you're right Robin." Sanji says while the ghosts leave.

Rose and Zoro start to recover as the group starts walking to the graveyard.

"Rotten ghosts…" Rose sulks as she and Robin straddle behind the group.

Robin grins at Rose while they continue to get out of earshot. "Using your body to show us the effects of the ghosts was pretty clever of you Rose."

Rose jolts then nervously turns to Robin who has an unchanging grin on her face. "Wh-what are you talking about? I didn't do that." Her eyes shift everywhere while lying causing Robin to giggle.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to press on how you know about this island for now, but in return I want you to tell me what you know about this island."

(Shit, guess I got no choice…) "*sigh* Alright, I was gonna give these to you guys after I made sure I was right, but here." She takes out a pouch of salt from her bag. "I have a feeling that in order to defeat the creatures on this island we need to force salt into their mouths. If my theory is right, the stolen shadows are being turned into the life force of these zombies, so once we throw salt at them the stolen shadows will return to their original owners."

Robin nods as she takes the salt from her. "I see, and you know who's causing the shadows to be taken correct?"

"As well as you do I'm afraid."

Robin widens her eyes at her answer. "You mean-"

"DON'T PUT ME BACK IN THE GROUND JACKASS!" Both girls stop their conversation and catch up to the others to find Luffy attempting to put a zombie back into the ground.

Luffy looks at him with a serious expression on his face. "It's an old guy with serious injuries."

The guys looks at him in disbelief. "ARE YOU BLIND?! IT'S A ZOMBIE!"

The zombies emerge to the ground angrily and charge towards the group. "DON'T MAKE FUN OF US! WE'LL SHOW YOU WHAT ZOMBIES CAN DO!"

The group gets ready to fight and both Robin and Rose got their salt ready. While the guys were attacking the zombies Rose shot into some of the zombies' mouths with her wind while Robin grew hands on the zombies' bodies and forced the salt into their mouths causing them to lose their shadows.

The guys stop and look at what the girls did in shock.

"What the hell did you girls do to them?" Zoro asks

"We fed them salt." Rose says as she tosses the guys a pouch of salt.

"So that's how you stop them. Ok!" Luffy says as he turns to the zombies that are kneeling to them. "Tell us what we need to know or we'll throw salt at you."

The zombies quickly nod.

"Did a man with a long nose, a girl with orange hair, and a raccoon dog pass through here?"

The zombies nod. "Yes they did. They passed here."

Luffy starts glaring at them. "You guys didn't do anything to them did you?"

"N-no we did nothing right guys?"

The other zombies nod causing him to get irritated.

"Tell me the truth."

One of the zombies points to the guy next to them. "This guy attacked them."

The zombie jolted. "TRAITOR! YOU'RE THE ONE THAT BIT HIM!"

The crew cracks their knuckles causing the zombies to freeze. They attack the zombies and managed to purify half of them while the rest fled.

"Looks like those three went to the mansion. At least we know they're alright." Franky says as they start walking to the mansion.

"H-hold on a moment." The group turns to a man in a rain coat. "I just saw you take care of those zombies. That was amazing! Please, hear me out for a moment!"

Luffy looks at him in shock. "An old guy with serious injuries!"

The guys look at him in disbelief. "WE KEEP TELLING YOU IT'S A ZOMBIE!"

"Actually he's right." The old man says causing them to stare at him in disbelief as he kneels in front of them. "The way you handled the zombies was amazing. Please, there's a man I want you to defeat. It's the only way to get my shadow back!"

Luffy looks at him in surprise. "You're shadow was taken too?! So was our friend's shadow who stole it?"

"A man named Moria. He's a monster!"

Robin looks at him in shock. "You don't mean Gecko Moria do you?"

He nods causing the others to look at her. "You know him Robin?" Zoro asks.

"Only by name, he's a powerful pirate and he's one of the Shichibukai."

The guys look at her in shock. "What's a warlord doing here?!" Franky asks

"I think we're in his territory." Rose says

"In any case I know Moria has set his eyes on the crew the minute you landed here." The old man says as tears start streaming down his face. "Please help us. There are many of us who can't leave this island because of our stolen shadows. Just once, I want to see the sun again before I die."

Franky starts crying at the story while Luffy nods. "We're looking for the guy that stole our shadows anyway! Since he's after us too we have to kick his ass one way of another so we'll help you."

The old man smiles while bowing. "Thank you so much! He'll be in the mansion over there!"

He points to the mansion causing the group to nod and make their way into the mansion.

(Ok, so far so good. I gotta take down as many zombies as possible.) Rose gets her salt ready as the group walks into the parlor and was suddenly attacked by some of the paintings in the room.

"WELCOME TO THE MANSION!" The paintings yell as they start attacking and the crew faced them and managed to purify them all except for a mounted pig named Buhichuck.

Buhichuck looks at the group in fear as Luffy grabs him. "Y-you're with those weaklings that salted half the paintings weren't you?! Who told you about the salt?!"

"Hey guys, what happened to Sanji?" Rose says as she changes the subject and looks around the room to find that he's missing. (Crap, I forgot about the spiders! I know that Luffy gets caught but who was the other victim again?)

Buhichuck starts chuckling causing Zoro to quirk an eyebrow. "They planned something. Everyone, we lost a dear man."

Franky looks at him in disapproval. "Don't say that."

"Relax, I'm sure Sanji's fine. Let's take the pig as a guide and get going." Luffy says as he leads while holding him.

Buhichuck tries to get out of his grasp but no luck. "D-don't you guys know who you're facing?! Gecko Moria is one of the scariest pirates out there. He could even be the king of the pirates!"

Luffy whacks him on the head for the comment. "I'm the one who's gonna be the king of the pirates!"

"I'm sure the others are fine. I'm more worried about how to handle Moria." Robin says as they start walking down the hallway.

Rose nods in agreement while Franky holds up Buhichuck to his face. "Tell us what you know or I'll fry you."

He shrieks in fear. "I-I DON'T KNOW ANYTHING!"

Luffy grabs his cheek. "Don't lie!"

Robin turns around and widens her eyes. "Guys, we have other concerns besides the pig. Zoro disappeared too."

The other three turn around in shock to find Zoro gone.

Rose clenches her fists in frustration. (CRAP! Why can't I remember these things?! At least those two will be-)

"QUIT MESSING WITH THE ARMOR LUFFY!" Franky yells snapping Rose out of her thoughts when she turns to see Luffy in a suit of armor.

"OH, COME ON FRANKY! DON'T YOU KNOW THAT WHEN YOU SEE ARMOR LYING AROUND YOU HAVE TO WEAR IT! IT'S EVERY MANS DREAM!"

Franky gasps in shock while Rose giggles at his behavior.

"Don't you guys know how serious this is?" Buhichuck says as they make it to the end of the hall where it looks like an arena.

(Oh no!) "Guys, I got a bad feeling about this. Get your salts ready." Rose says as she grabs her salt bag with the others nodding.

Franky got his bag ready when he looked around the room. "It's SUPER weird here. It's like an arena."

Buhichuck gives an evil smirk to them. "Exactly!"

A general zombie jumps down and tries to attack Franky causing him to dodge and fight off the zombie.

"I HOPE YOU ENJOY THE TERROR OF OUR GENERAL ZOMBIES!" Buhichuck laughs as he runs off and a wall closes behind him trapping the four of them in the room against an incoming army of general zombies.

"Let's see if I can fly us through." Rose uses her wind to try to fly the four of them past the zombies but the zombies climbed onto each other's shoulders and attacked the four of them and slammed them to the ground.

"Guess we can't do that, and we don't have enough salt for the army." Franky says as the group looks into their bags and realize that he's right.

Luffy gets into a stance. "Looks like we got no choice. We'll cut straight through and meet on the bridge!"

The others nod as they charge and purify as many armored zombies as possible while avoiding their attacks.

"360 CALIBER PHOENIX!" Rose and Luffy turn to the voice and avoid the attack.

"ZORO IS THAT YOU?!" Luffy yells but when the owner of the voice stepped up it turned out to be a zombie.

"I think that's Zoro's zombie!" Rose uses the last of her salt and slams Zoro's zombie to the ground and shot salt into his mouth to purify him.

"Nice job Rose. Let's get going!" Luffy says as he fights off the incoming zombies.

Rose nods but she looks up to see the spider mice taking aim and firing their web, but before they can hit Luffy she used her wind to send him flying out of the room and starts flying after him. Before she could get out of the way however one of the zombies grabbed her and made her get taken by the web.

* * *

Robin and Franky managed to run out of the arena and onto the bridge to find Luffy lying face down on the ground.

"What happened to you Straw Hat? And where's Freckles?" Franky asks as Luffy gets up.

"She sent me flying out here! She didn't follow?!" He runs to the entrance and looks around but he couldn't see her so he calls out. "ROSE! WHERE ARE YOU?! HURRY UP!"

"LET ME OUT MORIA!" The three of them follow Roses voice and look up in shock at a coffin travelling on a line over the bridge shaking. "OPEN UP WARLORD BEFORE I PUMMEL YOU! LET ME OUT OF HERE!"

"ROSE!" Luffy, Franky and Robin run on the bridge to go after her but they were stopped when a giant spider monkey gets in their way.

"HAHAHA! Sorry, but can't let you stop our next member from arriving!"

Luffy starts getting angry and gets in a stance. "What are you gonna do with her?!"

"Don't worry; you will be joining your friend very soon. Right now however, you three should be worried about yourselves. You have half an army of general zombies behind you and in the front you have me."

Robin crosses her arms to get ready. "Franky, Luffy do you guys have any salt left?"

Both guys shake their heads as Franky gets in a stance "I bet Swordsman and Curly-Cook went to where Freckles went so once we pass the monkey we can get them back."

Luffy nods as he looks to the door where Rose went. "LET'S GO!"

* * *

As the coffin's moving Rose struggles to get out of the web binding that tied her legs together and her hands behind her back. Realizing it's no good she tries to force the coffin open with her wind but the lid doesn't budge and only makes a gust in the coffin. (Crap, what's this thing made of anyway? I can't even beat the door down because my arms and legs are tied in this stupid web! At least I stopped Luffy from getting taken; now Oars can't be revived.)

The coffin door starts to open but before Rose can try flying out Moria quickly grabs her and locks her in a cage that's bolted to the ground. She quickly recovers and sits herself on her knees as she turns to face Moria who's laughing with excitement.

"KISHISHISHI! If it isn't Wind Rider Rose! So you're the outsider that took down over a thousand men in Enies Lobby and got the Gorosei all wound up. I was surprised to hear that you're from another world. You look like any regular person from this world. I wonder why the World Government didn't reveal your origins to the public yet?"

Rose widens her eyes in shock. (THE SHICHIBUKAI KNOW TOO?!) She calms down and gives him the best poker face she could manage. "They're probably embarrassed about how I rejected their offer to join their band of lapdogs." She looks around the room and saw Hildon flying out of the room leaving the two of them alone in the room. "I take it you already sent my friends back to the ship?"

"Very good, and you've been leaking out how to purify my zombies!"

She nods with a smirk. "Guilty as charged! Wouldn't want my friends entering your island blind after all! I'm sorry to say, but Oars won't be revived tonight."

"Kishishi! So you know about Oars as well! What makes you think he won't be revived?"

"My friends fully understand how this place works now. I'm confident that I'm your last catch of the night."

"What makes you think I need another catch?"

She looks at him in confusion. "What do you-"

"We're here Master Moria! Is it true number 900 is being created?" Perona floats into the room and was followed by Absalom, Kumashi, Dr. Hogback and Hildon.

Rose widens her eyes at the zombie teddy bear Kumashi when she sees Nami, Usopp and Chopper fidgeting and making bulges inside him while Moria nods. "That's right, take a look at this pirate. This girl came here from-"

Rose tries flying out of the cage but her logia abilities weren't working so she slams into the bars and glares at them. "TELL ME WHAT YOU'RE PLANNING MORIA!" (This isn't good! I can't let him tell those three my secret!)

He turns to her and starts laughing. "KISHISHI! What an impatient little outsider you are. Very well, since you're so rare it would be a waste to place your shadow in a random zombie. Why use a 300 million bounty's shadow when the shadow of a person that can scare the entire world government just by existing in this world is right here? Your bounty might be low for now, but for a first bounty it's quite impressive. " He walks over to her cage and leans in so he's facing her. "Once I place your shadow in Oars, I'll have the power I need to be the king of the pirates!"

TO BE CONTINUED


	14. Chapter 14

Rose stares at Moria in shock at what he just said. "You're planning to place my shadow in Oars?!" She grits her teeth in anger then uses her wind to send Moria flying at his henchmen but they dodged him as he slammed to the wall. "I WON'T LET THAT HAPPEN!" She starts struggling to get out of her web bindings in rage and starts flying in the cage. (THIS IS BAD! WHO KNOWS WHAT OARS WOULD SAY WITH MY SHADOW! Calm down, I can't rush out of the cage yet. First, let's see if I can get this web off.)

Moria immediately recovers and keeps his grin as everyone watches her struggle while Nami, Usopp and Chopper are hiding inside Kumashi.

Dr. Hogback looks at her with curiosity. "So this is Wind Rider Rose? An interesting choice for Oars! She's very resilient."

She glares at them as she keeps struggling. (Damnit! If I had some fire I could get this web off and fight my way out! If I fly through the bars of the cage with Moria watching me Perona's ghosts will just stop me… Wait, my fingers aren't wrapped? PERFECT!) She keeps struggling while coming up with a plan.

Absalom looks at her skeptically. "Are you sure you want this girl's shadow for Oars? Sure she's strong and has a nice body, but with Straw Hat's bounty wouldn't he be a better fit?"

Rose glares at him. "I'm strong enough to slam you through the deck of the ship Pervsalom!"

"How did you know it was me?! AND WHAT DID YOU CALL ME?! As long as I don't kill you I can blast you!" Absalom points his arms at her.

She laughs at the threat then smirks. "You and those stupid bazookas attached to your arms don't scare me you walking science project! Let me guess: besides the lion jaw you look like you also have elephant skin and muscles from bears and gorillas right? What happened kitty cat? Was your human form so ugly that you begged Dr. Hogback to fix you? I can't imagine how much uglier you were before the improvements. I can't look at you right now!" She stifled her laughter as she turned her back to him and got her fingers ready. (Hehe. I'm gonna enjoy this.)

Absalom froze in shock until the others laughed at him. "WHAT THE HELL?! HOW DID YOU KNOW ABOUT MY FEATURES?! I'LL-"

"ENOUGH ABSALOM!" Moria speaks up causing him to freeze and turn to him. "I understand your doubts because of her bounty, but this girl is of a special breed. After all, the World Government doesn't offer positions to the Shichibukai to just anybody now do they?"

The group along with Nami, Usopp, and Chopper widen their eyes in shock at what he said.

"Rose was offered a spot in the Shichibukai?" Usopp whispers.

"She's not denying it, so it must be true!" Chopper whispers.

"Why didn't she tell us?" Nami whispers

"What's this?" Absalom says causing Nami, Usopp and Chopper to look outside of the bear in curiosity to see that Rose snapped up seven tiny tornadoes that are heading towards them.

Moria looks at her in disbelief then starts laughing. "KISHISHI! So, you can snap up tornadoes as well. Pathetic, you must be getting desperate."

"HOROHOROHORO! How sad, are you sure she was offered a spot in the Shichibukai Master Moria?" Perona starts getting close to one of the small tornadoes.

Rose smirks as her action while secretly pushing Kumashi away from the twisters with her wind. "I wouldn't do that Perona."

Perona ignores her warning and lifts a leg to step on it but the tornadoes grew and swallowed her and the others except for Kumashi.

"WAAAH!" Moria and his henchmen scream as they try to fight the tornadoes.

"I warned you." Rose kept her smirk as she readied herself to fly out of the cage. (Hehe, even with the delay those tornadoes are awesome! I better get out while I can!) Rose focused her wind and flew full speed through the cage while still being bound by the web.

"You look like a good hostage Kumashi!" Rose says as she sends Kumashi flying with her causing him to scream.

Moria got pissed as he escaped the tornadoes and destroyed them to free the others.

"Nami, Usopp, Doc, you three alright in there?" Rose whispers causing the three of them to widen their eyes in shock while Kumashi looks at her in horror.

"How did you know we were hiding in the bear?" Nami whispers.

"How could I not know with the bulges you're making? You guys gotta relax and quit fidgeting."

"GIVE ME BACK MY SERVANT! NEGATIVE HOLLOW!" Perona summoned three ghosts to go after Rose and Kumashi.

"Hang on!" Rose maneuvered herself and Kumashi away from the ghosts then blew them through the walls.

"TAKE THIS!" Absalom fires his bazookas at her.

"WIND BARRIER!" Rose protected herself from the bazooka blasts then used her wind to slam him to the wall while blowing a raspberry at him and kept flying with Kumashi.

Rose turns to the bear with a serious expression on her face and starts whispering. "Guys, if I can't get us out I need you to do me a favor and cover your ears and keep the zipper shut for 20 minutes."

"What? Why?" Usopp asks.

"Moria will say and do some things that'll scare you and get caught." (As long as they don't see Oars or hear my secret they should be safe. Will they trust me after hearing about the offer though?)

"Ok, we'll do it." Chopper whispers.

Rose blinks in surprise then softly smiles. "Thank you guys, I'm sorry for not telling you about the Shichibukai offer. I-"

"You had your reasons right? Don't worry, it's ok. But when this is over you're telling the others and I'm charging you for keeping this from us." Nami whispers causing her to sweat drop then chuckle.

"Fair enough, let's get out of here." Rose sees the door up ahead but before she could get either of them out twenty of Perona's ghosts come flying after her. Even though she blew them away they kept coming back in greater numbers. When they almost reach the doorway the ghosts finally managed to go through Rose causing her to fall and drop Kumashi right before the doorway.

Rose lays face down on the ground with a cloud of depression floating over her head. "I can't even pull off an escape right… In the next life I wanna be born as a worm…"

Dr. Hogback laughs at the attempt. "FOSFOSFOS! I'm impressed she came up with such an elaborate escape plan so quickly! She'll make an excellent candidate for Oars! Spider mice, make sure she can't snap up anymore tornadoes!"

The surrounding spider mice did as they were told as they wrapped her hands in a web so she couldn't snap her fingers anymore while Kumashi got up and returned to Perona before the trio could escape.

"Crap, we almost got out. What kind of scary things was Rose talking about?" Usopp whispers as they watch the group get Rose into position by webbing her feet to the ground while standing her upright in front of a spotlight.

"I don't know, but we should do what she says. She used what she knew to protect us from the zombies, so we owe her this much." Chopper says as he zipped up Kumashi's zipper almost all the way and covered his ears.

Nami and Usopp look at each other and nod in agreement as they joined Chopper and covered their ears.

Perona sent a ghost next to Rose so she wouldn't try anything then turns to Kumashi. "I saw her moving her lips when she kidnapped you, but I couldn't hear anything. What was she saying to you?"

"She-"

"Don't talk! your voice is so ugly!" Perona says causing Kumashi to shut up.

Rose internally sighs in relief as she struggles with the web. (At least they're safe for now. I hope they did what I said.) She doesn't stop struggling as the spotlight turns on. "YOU CAN'T WIN MORIA! NO MATTER WHOSE SHADOW'S IN THAT ZOMBIE THE RESULTS ARE GONNA BE THE SAME! THE ONLY ONE WHO'LL BE THE KING OF THE PIRATES IS MY CAPTAIN!"

Moria steps in front of her shadow and starts laughing. "Kishishi! A loser like him who can't protect his friends from me is in no position to be king of the pirates."

She glares at him as she tries to lunge at him for insulting Luffy, but the web held her back, and before she could use her wind again the ghost went through her.

"I'm sorry for being born…" Rose says as Moria takes his giant scissors and grabs Roses shadow. He cuts off her shadow just as she recovered from Perona's ghost and knocks her out.

Moria looks at Roses shadow in excitement as it struggles in his hand. "I HAVE IT! Take a look everyone! The shadow of a girl that was brought to this world by Hell's Comet will be the key to waking Oars!"

The group widens their eyes in shock while Nami, Usopp and Chopper kept their ears covered, so they didn't hear his statement.

Absalom was the first to calm down. "So that's why you wanted her shadow. Now it makes sense, the shadow of an outsider is the best fit for a demon." He turns to the spider mice. "Spider mice, bring her back to the ship and make sure to get the webs off. We can't have her dying or this whole plan gets ruined."

The spider mice comply as they take Rose out of the room and back to the ship.

Moria keeps hold of Roses shadow as he walks to the freezer. "Dr. Hogback, open up the freezer."

He complies as he runs to the door and opens the doors for him.

"Let's go revive the new zombie right away!" Perona says as she and Kumashi follow the group into the freezer while Nami, Usopp, and Chopper uncover their ears because of the cold and unzip the zipper to look outside.

"W-why is it so cold? And what happened to Rose?" Usopp asks as he and the others start shivering.

"Guys look!" Chopper points to the shadow in Moria's hand and they realize it's Roses.

"I-is that Roses shadow?! Where's her body?!" Nami whispers in shock as she tries to get a better look but Usopp stops her.

"Calm down, if that's Roses shadow she should still be alive. Brook's an example of that. Let's see what happens and watch out for an opening to- Wait, what's with the corpse?"

The three of them start trembling in fear when they saw Oars' frozen body.

Moria looks at the corpse in excitement then looks to the shadow who's trying to get out of his grasp. "Stop struggling Wind Rider Roses shadow. I'm your new master now." The shadow stops struggling as it listens to him. "Forget your past life. I'll give you a voice and flesh in return you will become my soldier. Do you agree?"

The shadow nods.

"KISHISHI! Excellent, then revive Oars!"

Nami, Usopp and Chopper watch in horror as he pushes Roses shadow into Oars.

Everyone watches in anticipation as Oars began to awaken and break off the chains holding him. When he finally opens his eyes the trio starts screaming and jumps out of the bear.

Absalom looks at them in surprise. "What was my bride doing in there?"

"Now it makes sense why Wind Rider tried to take Kumashi with her. I'm even more excited to see what her shadow will be like!" Dr. Hogback says.

Perona turns to Kumashi in rage. "Why were you hiding the pirates Kumashi?"

The bear doesn't answer when they turn to see Oars stand up and look down at himself. "WHOA! I'M A GIANT?! THAT'S SO COOL! Where am I though? This isn't New York. What's New York again?" He turns to the group and looks at them in excitement. "COOL! It's a living teddy bear and a... Raccoon dog?"

"I'M A REINDEER!" Chopper yells when Nami and Usopp grab him and start running out of the freezer with Absalom chasing them.

"SORRY DOC! Who's doc again?" (Weird, is this an anime world? The purple haired guy looks familiar. Wait, what the hell's anime? Wasn't I always in this world?) Oars tilts his head in confusion at Moria while he looks at him with excitement.

"Listen Oars, my name is Moria. 500 years ago you caused enough chaos to make your name legendary. Today, I revived you to be my underling."

Oars bows his head to him. "I'm sorry, but I have to decline your offer. See, I have my own dreams to accomplish and I'd rather not work for a Shichibukai. Since you revived me though, I'll give you a fair warning: in the future be careful of Doflamingo. Hold on, what time is it? I should go and check out the stars!" (Wait, why did I give him that specific warning? And how did I know he was a Shichibukai? Oh well, how do I get out of here?)

He looks around to find an exit but he doesn't so he turns to the wall. "TWISTER PUNCH!" He punches through the wall as if it was paper astounding Moria and the others. "Odd, I thought a tornado was coming out. Oh well. WOW! THIS PLACE IS SO COOL! I'M GONNA EXPLORE!" Oars runs out of the freezer to explore the island.

"KISHISHI! I'll keep that in mind. Glad to see her memory didn't fade immediately. Seems like that's all she knew about me. With the shadows memory of the Straw Hats fading I won't have to wait too long for him to become obedient. Until Oars loses his will I'm going to relax here." Moria makes himself comfortable while Dr. Hogback and Perona watch the leaving zombie in shock.

* * *

"GET OUT OF MY WAY!" Luffy yells as he, Franky and Robin fight the spider monkey Talleren after they defeated the general zombies.

"HEAVY NUNCHUCK!" Franky whacks the spider monkey in the head with his pillar nun chucks and knocks him down.

Luffy nods in approval then looks to the door Rose was taken to. "Great job Franky. Let's go get Rose and the others-"

"GUYS!" Both guys turn to see Robin tangled in a web the spider mice created. "I'm sorry, I was careless. I didn't expect there to be more."

"ROBIN!" Before the guys can go help Robin Talleren gets back up and ties Luffy and Franky to the ground with his web.

"HAHAHA! You fools! There hasn't been a prey that Moria hasn't caught! You wanted to go to where your little friend went correct? We'll take you to her right now!"

Before the spiders took the group they stopped when they hear Brook jump up to bridge while singing.

"YOHOHOHO~YOHOHOHO~ YOHOHOHOHO~ YOHOHOHOHO~  
Gather up all of the crew. ~  
It's time to ship out Binks' Brew~  
Sea wind blows ~  
To where who knows?~  
The waves will be our guide~  
All across the oceans tide~  
Raising sunshine far and wide~  
Birds they sing in circles passing by!~  
"YOHOHOHO! You came to the island after all!"

Robin looks at Brook in surprise as he walks around on the bridge with his sword out. "Where did you come from?"

"I jumped from the ground below my dear! Since you're here, I'll tell you everything I know about this island."

Talleren looks at Brook in shock. "WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?! ARE YOU A PIRATE?!"

Brook ignores him as he walks past him.

Luffy looks at him in shock. "Brook! What are you-"

"Worry not my friend. I'll end this swiftly." He stops with his back to the spider and starts sheathing his sword. "Three verse humming. Aero Notch Slash!" The spider got sliced in half causing the others to look at him in shock at what he just did.

"Hold on in order to get rid of the zombies you need salt!" Franky says but he watches and sees that salt was already placed in Talleren and purified him.

Brook turns around in surprise. "You knew about the salt? I'm impressed. You can get out of the web with fire."

Franky shoots fire out of his mouth to get himself and the others out while Brook keeps talking.

"Some of your friends have been captured correct? I'm sorry to say, but it's too late for them. For now I recommend going to the ship."

Luffy shakes his head. "I CAN'T DO THAT! ROSE, SANJI AND ZORO GOT CAPTURED!" Luffy tries to run to the door but Franky held him back and motioned Brook to finish explaining.

"Don't worry, they're still alive. If the original body dies then the shadow dies too, so they don't kill them. After they steal their victims shadow they send them back to their ship so you should find them there. Here, take these pouches of salt and make your way back." Brook hands them three pouches of salt.

"In that case let's hurry to the ship! LET GO OF ME FRANKY!" Luffy takes his bag of salt and keeps trying to run while Franky held him back.

Once Franky lets go Luffy bolted through the mansion to get back to the ship as quickly as possible.

"Now if you excuse me, I'll be off." Brook starts walking away when Franky stops him.

"Hold on, there's one more thing I want to ask you. When you get your shadow what then? You know that people won't react kindly to a talking skeleton right?"

Brook remains silent at his words while Robin turns to him in disbelief. "Franky, why are you saying this?"

He ignores Robin's question and keeps going. "If you get out of this ocean, you'll just continue your lonely fate. If I were you I would have given up a long time ago. What's keeping you going?"

Brook still doesn't face them. "You want to know do you? Years ago my crew and I left an important friend behind when we started on the Grand Line. It was a difficult choice, but he was a small child so we couldn't take him. The only thing we could give him was a promise to return. However, during our travels the crew was annihilated so we couldn't keep our promise. As the lone survivor it's my duty to return to our friend and tell him what happened. How long has it been since then? It's probably 50 years by now."

Both of them look at him in shock.

"50 years? I wasn't even born yet! There's no way that your friend is still waiting." Franky says.

"YOU DON'T KNOW THAT! It's true that he has every right to leave. But, what if he's still at that cape waiting for us to return? I can only imagine how lonely he is. He's probably thinking his nakama betrayed him, and is feeling miserable…"

"Yea, that's true but..." Franky cuts himself off as Brook continues

"The name of that nakama we had to leave is, Laboon. It was impossible for us to take such a young whale on a journey through the grand line."

Franky quirks an eyebrow at him. "A whale?"

"Yes, I can't help but think that he's still waiting for us on that cape. Hoping that we could play our music again… Even if I make it back, I can imagine that he'd never forgive us for dying like that. But, no matter how much he resents me for forcing him to wait…" He grips his cane in frustration. "DEATH IS NEVER AN APOLOGY! Because when a man makes a promise he doesn't stop fighting until he fulfills it!"

Both Robin and Franky stare at Brook in shock as he goes running after the zombie that has his shadow.

A loud roar in the distance snapped Robin and Franky out of it and start running while Franky starts crying. "WAAAH! I'm not crying idiot! That skeleton's awesome!"

Robin turns to him. "Franky, why did you ask that question?"

"I know it was wrong shut up! WAAAH! I LOVE THAT SKELETON! HE'S SUPER!"

Robin giggles at Franky's words as they keep running. "I agree." They keep going until they reach the parlor where Usopp and Chopper are facing the zombies after Nami got captured by Absalom.

"LET GO! IT'S NOT FAIR TO BE USING YOUR IMMORTALITY!" Usopp desperately yells as he and Chopper try to get away from the grabbing zombies.

Franky starts attacking group of zombies and starts purifying them. "GET YOUR HANDS OFF OF MY FRIENDS!"

Usopp and Chopper turn in surprise to see Robin and Franky purifying zombies left and right causing the remaining zombies to make a run for it.

"Are you guys alright? Where's Nami?" Robin asks as she searches the room but there was no sign of her.

Both of them look down in guilt. Chopper was the first to speak. "We're sorry. We tried to get away when an invisible man took her…"

"Don't worry Doctor, we'll get her back. For now, we should get going we're regrouping at the ship where Moria placed Zoro, Sanji and Rose." Robin says.

They nod in agreement and start running to the ship.

"Do you guys know what that loud roar was?!" Franky asks.

"It was Roses zombie! Moria placed her shadow in a freaking behemoth!" Usopp says when they hear crashes and stomping.

"AAAH! ROSES ZOMBIE BROKE OUT AND IS RAMPAGING!" Chopper yells in fear as they keep hearing stomping in the distance but don't see Oars as they arrive at the Sunny.

"The zombies took everything." Robin says as they search the ship.

"Guys! Luffy and the others are in the kitchen!" Usopp says

They run in and see Rose, Zoro, and Sanji knocked out and sitting on kitchen chairs while Luffy tries to wake Rose with a kiss on the lips but it doesn't work causing him to groan.

"Aww, it didn't work." He turns to the guys who have a shocked expression on their faces except for Robin who's giggling at his action.

"LUFFY! WHAT THE HELL?!" Usopp yells.

He tilts his head in confusion. "What's up with you guys? Nami told me the best way to wake her up is with a kiss, but it didn't work… DAMNIT MORIA, I'M GONNA KICK YOUR ASS!" He tries to run out but Franky stops him.

"Hold on Straw Hat, I know you're pissed but we gotta wake them up first. Leave it to me. OI, WAKE UP BRATS!" Franky whacks the three of them on the head causing lumps to form on the guys while Rose didn't feel it because the hit went through her.

Usopp steps in. "I guess that didn't work. Leave it to me." He takes a deep breath before shouting. "THERE'S A BEAUTIFUL SWORDSWOMAN WATCHING THE STARS!"

The three of them start to get up.

"A beautiful woman?"

"Sword?"

"Stars?"

Chopper looks at the three of them in shock. "YOU THREE ARE HOPELESS!"

Rose looks down at her feet and sees that her shadow's missing. "Damnit, I can't believe I lost my shadow." (Oars must be on the loose right now. I hope he didn't say anything.)

Zoro and Sanji look down to see that their shadows were missing too.

"Damnit, I let my guard down. This is embarrassing." Zoro says.

Rose looks at him in confusion. "That's weird. I purified your zombie before I got taken." (Could those pirates in the forest have it?)

Zoro looks at her in shock. "You did? Then, where the hell is my shadow?!"

Sanji puffs a cigarette and chuckles. "Even your shadow gets lost easily. I wouldn't be surprised if it left the Florian Triangle."

Those two got into a leg and sword clash when Chopper ran to Rose. "We're sorry Rose; we didn't listen to what you said and saw Moria place your shadow in a really scary zombie. We got caught because of it…"

(I guess they didn't hear my secret. That's a relief.) Rose knelt down to his level and patted him on the head with a soft smile. "There's nothing to apologize for doc. I should be apologizing for not getting you guys out of there. I take it Nami got taken by pervsalom?"

When Sanji heard this he stopped fighting Zoro and turned to Usopp. "NAMI WAS KIDNAPPED?! WHY DIDN'T YOU STOP HIM?!"

"IT WASN'T OUR FAULT SANJI! THE MAN TURNED INVISIBLE AND TOOK HER TO MARRY HIM!"

"HE'S GOING TO WHAT?!" Sanji started flaming up while the others turned away from him and to Usopp when he hands them new pouches of salt.

"Here you guys go. I took your salt to make these special salt balls. Good thing you guys saved yours we ran out as soon as we went through the parlor."

Franky shakes his head. "We ran out of salt too. Brook was the one that gave it to us. Everyone, I have something to tell you."

Everyone looks to him. "That skeleton, he's a real man. I-I said some things that I shouldn't have. I asked him his reason to keep going and he explained his promise to see his friend name Laboon. He is a true man that won't stop fighting until he sees that whale again." After remembering the scene he starts crying again. "WAAAH! THAT'S SKELETON'S GREAT! I'M NOT CRYING ASSHOLES!"

Franky keeps blubbering while Luffy, Zoro, Usopp and Sanji widen their eyes in shock.

"Seriously?" Usopp says

"I can't believe it's him." Sanji says while Zoro stays silent

"Laboon? Wow! We know that whale." Luffy says causing Franky and Robin to look at him in shock while Rose stays silent.

"You guys met the whale?!" Franky says.

Sanji nods. "Yea, back when we started our journey in the Grand Line. He kept waiting for his friends to return after 50 years but heard that they fled. He kept ramming his head against the rocks until Luffy somehow stopped him from acting crazy and is still waiting for his nakama."

"To think that one of that whales friends was that skeleton." Zoro says.

Luffy pumps his fists in excitement. "I'M PUMPED! Not only is he an afro skeleton, but a musician and friends with Laboon! Even if I have to drag him he's joining our crew! Any objections?"

Both Chopper and Franky yell while crying comical tears. "I'M IN!"

"Would it matter if we did captain? Fufu!" Robin says as she giggles.

Rose nods with a smile. "Once we get his shadow back he'll be a great crewmate."

Zoro and Sanji nod in agreement.

Luffy crosses his arms with a smile. "Alright! I'm gonna kick Moria's ass to get your shadows back! Rose, I want you to help me find Moria."

Rose nods in agreement.

Luffy turns to Sanji. "Sanji, you go help Nami."

Sanji starts flaming up again. "I WOULD'VE GONE EVEN IF YOU DIDN'T SAY SO! I'M GONNA MAKE THAT INVISIBLE MAN WISH HE WAS NEVER BORN FOR KIDNAPPING NAMI!"

"He also saw Nami in the bath." Usopp says.

"HE DID WHAT?!" Sanji's flames grew even stronger causing the others to sweat drop.

Rose watches him in surprise. (Whoa, his rage flames are even stronger than Natsu Dragneel's.)

She turns to the group as Franky, Zoro and Usopp volunteered to go with Sanji while Robin and Chopper volunteered to go with her and Luffy.

Luffy turns to the mansion and starts charging with the others. "LET'S KICK HIS ASS!"

* * *

"THIS IS SO COOL!" Oars yells out in excitement as he causes chaos by running around the island. (Where did that guy revive me in anyway? What was his name again? Maria? Moria, right!) Oars looks at the sails that say 'Thriller Bark'. "So I'm at Thriller Bark? WOW!" (This arc was always fun! Wait, arc? What arc?)

Oars shrugs his shoulders then looks up at the clouds. "Stupid clouds. I hate when they're out at night." He grabs a nearby tree and waves it in the air to try to use Roses devil fruit powers but it only scares the nearby zombies. "What the hell? I could have sworn I can move the clouds." He tries to fly but he only jumps and lands on his stomach.

The surrounding zombies ran out of the way in time and look at him in confusion. "What the hell's with Oars? Does he think he can fly?" One of the zombies says.

"What a weirdo. There's no way someone that big can fly." Another zombie says causing Oars to glare at them as he gets up.

The zombies jolt and bow their heads. "WE'RE SORRY!"

Oars nods. "Don't worry about it. I don't know why I thought I could fly either. Sorry for scaring you. Wait, you're zombies?!"

They nervously nod causing Oars to smile. "WOW! Did Moria revive you guys too?! That guy must have some power to be making such awesome zombies."

The zombies look at him in confusion. "Th-thanks?"

"Hey, do you guys know of any places to explore? Since I can't see the stars I might as well learn the area."

The zombies look at each other in confusion. "Umm, the mansion is a great start."

Oars bows his head to them. "Thanks, I'll see you around. I don't know why I know this but watch out for the pirates I think they have salt." He waves them off leaving a group of very confused zombies behind as he runs up to the mansion. "Whoa, this place is pretty sweet. Too bad I can't fly; I'd love a better view of the area. Maybe I can climb up."

He starts climbing up the mansion then up the mast until he reaches the crow's nest and holds onto the top part of the sail for support. "Wow, this place is an island?! Wait no, it's a ship?! WHOA! Hmm, not much I can do with this fog. I know, if I move the ship I can get a better view of the sky! I'm sure they won't-" The piece of the sail keeping him up starts breaking from the weight.

(Oh cra-) It broke off the mast causing him to fall and land on the bridge of the mansion and breaks it along with a part of the mansion. Oars staggers up and sweat drops at the damage. (Oops, I better be more careful. I'll apologize later.)

"WAAAH! IT'S ROSES ZOMBIE!" Oars turns to see Usopp standing at the broken end of the bridge in fear while Franky, Sanji, and Zoro look at him in shock.

"THEY PLACED ROSES SHADOW IN THAT?! I'LL KILL THEM!" Sanji says as he starts raging again.

"WATCH OUT GUYS! HE COULD KILL US!" Usopp yells as he hides behind the others in fear while they get in a battle stance.

Oars stares at them in confusion. (What the- Don't I know them from somewhere? They don't seem bad. They wanna fight?) "Sorry guys, I'm busy trying to see if the Timore Comet will be out tonight, so I'm not gonna fight you. We can fight afterwards, but until then watch out for Moria and Kuma those two are trouble. See ya." Oars turns around and starts leaving. (Why did that comet come up? Wait, why did I warn them about Moria and Kuma? Who's Kuma? Oh well, the night sky awaits!)

Zoro watches the leaving zombie in confusion. "What the hell was that? Did he just warn us? Who's Kuma?"

The guys shrug while Franky keeps looking at the leaving zombie in shock.

"Was that really Freckles? That had to be her shadow because he was talking about the comet."

Usopp looks down in depression. "It's over; we don't stand a chance against a zombie that big. I'm sure you guys can live without your shadows."

"DON'T GIVE UP!" The others shout.

Sanji puffs out a smoke from his cigarette in frustration. "Still though, that behemoth broke the bridge. How are we gonna-"

"Just give me 1 more minute and I can finish the trimming." Franky says as he finishes a new bridge shocking the others.

"FORGET THE TRIMMING! LET'S GET GOING!" The three of them yell as all four of them run past the bridge and storm the mansion.

* * *

Luffy, Robin, Rose and Chopper are running through the mansion until they reach the room where Dr. Hogback and his servant Cindry were waiting for them with Sanji's zombie and two general zombies.

Dr. Hogback looks at them in shock. "Wh- YOU'RE BACK?! WHAT HAS OARS BEEN DOING?! SHOULDN'T HE BE OBEDIENT BY NOW?!"

Luffy glares at him as he got his fist ready. "Rose, is this guy Moria?"

She shakes her head. "No, this is Dr. Hogback. You should be able to find Moria in the freezer." She points to the freezer door causing him to nod.

"Good, I'm going in then!" He runs into the freezer while the general zombies tried to stop him but Rose blocks them with her wind.

"Like I'd let you guys attack him." She slams the general zombies to the wall and purifies them with her salt.

"Good job Rose. Go back up Luffy. We can take it from here." Robin says as she got her arms ready causing Rose to nod and catch up to Luffy as he reaches the freezer to meet Moria.

She stops at the entry way to watch the scene without Moria and Luffy noticing her.

"ARE YOU MORIA?!" Luffy yells as he sees Moria sitting lazily in the freezer and give him a sideways glance.

"Ah, you must be Straw Hat Luffy. You don't look worth 300 million. Then again, looks can be deceiving as you can tell with Wind Rider."

He looks at him in confusion. "What are you-?"

The island starts shaking causing all of them to be confused.

(What the hell? I know Oars moved the boat to have an adventure in the manga but why would he be doing it with my shadow?) Rose thought for a moment before realization hits her causing her to bang her head against the wall. (If I didn't know about the arc I would've moved the boat to look at the stars… Ugh…)

Luffy kept himself balanced until the shaking stopped. "What the hell's going on?"

Moria relaxes with a grin. "Wind Riders zombie must be moving the boat. So, what do you want?"

"GIVE BACK MY FRIENDS' SHADOWS!" Luffy yells as he gets in a stance.

"KISHISHI! And if I don't want to?"

"I'm gonna kick your ass!"

"I'm safe against your power."

"Oh yeah? GUM GUM PISTOL!" He fires a punch at Moria but it was blocked by his shadow.

"KISHISHI! Let's see how you do against my doppelman! With this I doubt you can touch me." Moria's shadow comes to life and separates itself from him and goes to attack Luffy. Before it can touch him though Rose sends the shadow to the opposite side of him and goes in front of it.

"Luffy, take care of Moria! I'll hold off the shadow!" Rose snapped a small tornado at the shadow then got in a stance. Luffy nodded as he went to attack Moria. The shadow turned into an army of bats to go after Luffy but Roses tornado grew and caught the bats while Rose flew above it and turned her arms into twisters and pushed them into the tornado. "TWISTER BARRAGE!"

Moria started running around the freezer while Luffy managed to land half his punches at him while chasing him. "Should've guessed the outsider would help. I'm curious, how long have you been using her for your adventures?"

Roses eyes widened while focusing her abilities to keep the shadow in place then grits her teeth as she got her leg ready to give Moria a twister kick. (Luffy isn't that kind of guy, you son of a-)

Before Rose could do anything Luffy punches him and slams him to the wall in rage. "I'M NOT USING ROSE! AND SHE'S NOT AN OUTSIDER, SHE'S MY NAKAMA!"

Rose blinks at his rage then smiles while cancelling the twister kick and keeps her hold on the shadow. (Thanks captain.)

Moria staggers back up in confusion then realization hits him. "Ah, so she didn't tell you after all. Well let me tell you she's-"

Before he could finish they hear stomping in the distance and turn to see Oars walking into the freezer. "I'm here Master Moria."

(Shit, my shadow lost its will!) Rose releases her twister barrage and lands next to the shadow as Luffy looks at Oars in shock while Moria looks at him with excitement.

"KISHISHI! I was wondering when the shadow would be obedient. Tell these pirates who your master is."

"My master is the Shichibukai Gecko Moria."

Rose flies up to Oars' face in fury. "OARS! DON'T LISTEN TO HIM! YOU'RE MY SHADOW AREN'T YOU?!"

Oars doesn't listen to her causing Moria to laugh. "KISHISHI! You should know this Wind Rider. All zombies lose their will to me in time. Now then Oars, I will give you your first mission. On your left arm there should be bounty posters of 9 pirates."

Oars looks to his arm to find the posters as Moria keeps talking. "Those are the bounty posters of the Straw Hat Pirates. I want you to take them down! You can even kill them if you need to."

Oars nods in understanding. "Yes Master Moria. Looks like we have two here already: Straw Hat Luffy and Wind Rider Rose. No hard feelings!"

Oars launches a fist at Rose and Luffy but Rose sends Luffy and herself flying away from him while Moria runs away.

"KISHISHI! Good luck Straw Hats!"

TO BE CONTINUED


	15. Chapter 15

Rose managed to get Luffy and herself away from Oars' attack and watch him break through the mansion trying to find them.

"Your zombie is huge! Where did Moria go?!" Luffy says as he and Rose search for him.

Rose found the hallway where Moria escaped from. "I think Moria went that way. I'll go warn the others that my zombie's after them while you go after him."

Luffy nods as Rose lands him at the hallway entrance and runs after Moria.

Rose flies outside to find Robin, Usopp, and Chopper outside on one of the rooftops while Zoro, Franky and Brook were sitting on another rooftop.

She lands on the rooftop where Usopp's group is. "You guys alright?"

Usopp nods. "We're fine. What the hell's going on with your zombie?"

Rose puts her hair up in a ponytail while explaining. "My shadow lost its will to Moria. He's completely under his control now and what's worse is that Moria ordered him to take us down."

"WHAT?!" Usopp and Chopper yell in shock as the four of them turn to Oars and see him getting yelled at by Sanji.

"OI! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! ARE YOU REALLY ROSE?!" Sanji yells up to Oars causing him to look down at him.

"Do I look like a girl to you curly brow? My name's Oars." Oars looks at his left arm for Sanji''s wanted poster.

Rose widens her eyes when she sees Oars look at it in confusion. "This is gonna be a disaster…"

Robin looks at her in confusion then turns to Oars who's looking at Sanji's wanted poster then back to Sanji repeatedly.

(This can't be right.) Oars looks at Sanji. "Oi blondie, what's your name?"

Sanji grits his teeth in rage. "You really aren't Rose. I'm Sanji!"

Oars widens his eyes then puts a hand over his mouth while shaking causing everyone to look at him confused until he couldn't take it anymore and starts laughing.

"BWAHAHAHA! I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I know I gotta be serious here but… BWAHAHA! That's gotta be the worst wanted poster drawing in the world! Look, it's obvious you've suffered enough. Go back to your ship and I won't hurt you."

Sanji clenches his fists in rage and runs to Oars and jumps. "DON'T MAKE FUN OF ME! COLLIER SHOOT!" Sanji goes to kick him but Oars blocks the kick and deflected it. While Sanji was mid-air Rose caught him before Oars could punch him.

"OI, YOU BIG BEHEMOTH! COME AND GET ME!" Rose yells as she lands Sanji away from Oars and flies in front of him with her twin blades out. (Never thought I'd be fighting like someone from Attack on Titan. This'll be fun.)

Oars smirks while cracking his knuckles. "You got guts. I take it you were the owner of this shadow. Let's see if the new can beat the original." Oars and Rose charge towards one another.

"TWISTER KICK!" Oars yells as he tries kicking Rose but a twister doesn't come out as his leg goes through her.

"Nice try, but I think you were trying for this. TWISTER KICK!" Rose launches a twister kick at his face but it only makes him stagger back then she flies in front of him. "WIND BLADE CROSS!" Her attack hits Oars in the stomach and forces him to fall back and land on one of the buildings next to the one Zoro and his group are occupying.

Sanji comes running to Oars. "ROSE, GIVE ME A BOOST!" Rose nods as she lifts him up with her wind as one of his legs lights up red. "SLAM ME DOWN!" She sends him flying straight down at Oars as he tries getting up from the building. "DIABLE JAMBE!" He kicks straight at Oars' chest only to get swatted away by Oars.

She catches Sanji before he hits the building while Oars staggers up while catching his breath.

"Not bad pirates. Let's see what you-"

"USOPP SALT STAR!" Usopp shot salt into Oars' mouth but it wasn't enough to purify him but only turned his attention to him, Chopper, and Robin.

"That wasn't enough salt! We just made him angry!" Chopper says as he watches Oars in fright while Usopp and Robin get in a battle stance.

"Looks like I won't have trouble finding my targets. Alright then!" Oars goes to punch the building but stops to dodge Roses wind blade cross and lands in front of Zoro's building. "Do you really think that dumb trick would work twice?" He turns back to Rose to punch her but the fist went through her.

Zoro took out all three katanas and jumped off the roof to attack Oars' head. "TAKE THIS! THREE SWORD STYLE SANTORYUU!" Oars ducks to dodge then kicks him to send him flying.

"ZORO!" Rose catches him with her wind and lands him gently on the ground.

"WEAPONS LEFT!" Franky shoots at Oars but it didn't do any damage.

Oars twitches an eye in irritation. "THAT'S ENOUGH ASSHOLES!" He punches the building that Franky and Brook were standing on causing it to crumble under them but Rose catches them while Oars attacks the building where Robin and her group were and forces them to fall to the ground.

Rose grits her teeth in rage. "YOU'RE MY SHADOW RIGHT?! YOU'RE ATTACKING YOUR OWN CREWMATES HERE!"

Oars turns to her and shakes his head in disappointment. "Were you really the owner of this shadow? You should know that I don't have any knowledge of them nor do I have any knowledge of you. I'm not you anymore! I only have one name and that's Oars; the proud servant of Master Moria. To me you're all just obstacles for Master Moria that I need to take down."

Rose glares at him while the others start getting back up. "You're right Oars. You're not one of us. If you were you would know by now not to underestimate your friends."

Oars smirks as he gets his fists ready. "Hehe, you guys are tougher than I thought. Come at me with all you got! I wanna see how far I can go with this body."

"Hey Rose, can you send him flying?" Zoro asks causing her to look at him in disbelief.

"Seriously? I was barely able to send him back with a twister kick. It would take too much time and energy to send him flying."

Chopper faces him at heavy point. "We need to find his weak point."

Robin turns to Rose. "What happened to Luffy?"

"He's going after Moria as we speak. Brook, can you-" She turns to see Brook already left. (He already went to get the salt. Good, things seem to be going alright. Nami should be escaping Absalom by now.)

Sanji puffs a cigarette as he looks at Oars. "In any case we need to hold him off until Luffy takes care of Moria."

Oars twitches an eye in irritation. "Oi, pay attention to your opponent! If you're not gonna attack then I will!" He fires punches at them causing them to dodge while Franky was talking to Chopper and Usopp.

"GUYS, GET TACTIC 15 READY!" Franky yells causing them to nod and run with him to Sanji and Zoro. "SWORDSMAN, CURLY-COOK SUPPORT MY LEGS!" Franky jumps onto Sanji and Zoro's shoulders while grabbing Usopp and with his right hand while Chopper jumps on Frankys head. "GET READY MONSTER, FOR THE PIRATE DOCKING BIG EMPEROR!"

Chopper looks at Franky's left hand in shock. "HOLD ON FRANKY! THE LEFT HAND ISN'T DOCKED!"

Rose looks at the combo in excitement. "Hold on guys I'm coming!" (I've always wanted to see this!) She runs over to Franky and docks on his left hand while holding her blades out while Robin watches the scene in horror.

"I knew I could count on you Freckles! Now let's go!" Franky goes to launch the first attack by using Rose as a sword, but Oars dodges and punches the big emperor. The robot immediately breaks apart as Franky, Usopp, Chopper and Rose were sent flying away from Sanji and Zoro.

Rose catches them then sighs in disappointment. "That stunk…" (Too bad, it would've been cool…)

Robin glares at them. "As human beings you all should be ashamed of yourselves. Don't ever try docking again."

Zoro runs to attack Oars. "That was just embarrassing." He jumps and aims his swords at Oars but he swats him away.

(These guys are hilarious! It's almost a shame I gotta fight them.) Oars aims a punch at Zoro while he's down but stopped when Sanji kicked a rock at him. "Why you!"

Rose uses a twister kick at the back of his right leg causing him to fall forward while Usopp uses an oil star on Oars' hand. Robin uses her devil fruit to lock his other arm while he tries to keep his balance.

Franky and Chopper start running to Oars. "ROSE, GIVE US A BOOST!" Rose sends the two of them flying to punch Oars in the jaw while Sanji sends Zoro flying to knock Oars in the head and force him to somersault head first to the ground.

Oars recovers with his body laying upside down against the building. (I take it back. These guys suck.) "I'M GOING TO PULVERIZE YOU FREAKING PESTS!" Oars yells as he tries to get up but realizes that he couldn't. (What the hell? You gotta be kidding me. My horns are freaking stuck to the ground?!)

Rose realizes what happened and starts to chuckle evilly. "Guys, he's stuck."

The others look at Oars darkly causing him to sweat drop. (Oh crap!) He keeps trying to get up when the eight of them walk over and attack him with everything they got until he manages to get up and send them all flying. "KNOCK IT OFF ASSHOLES!"

They recover and get in a stance while Oars gets back up. (These pirates won't quit, I'll give them that.)

Rose sheathes the blades flies in front of him with her arms as tornadoes and keeps trying to punch him while he dodges and keeps trying to swat her. She distracted him long enough for Franky and Zoro to attack his knees.

Oars starts to growl in rage as he struggles to stay standing. (This is insane. Even when I hit her my attacks just go through her. Is she a ghost? The others don't seem to have that ability. I'll focus on them.)

Oars turns to the others. "Take this!" Oars goes after Usopp and Chopper and sends them flying. Rose caught them while Oars deflected Zoro's caliber phoenix and Sanji's kicks and tried to punch them but they dodged. Robin used her arms to make a long rope next to Oars' feet and tripped him. While regaining his balance he took a coup de vent by Franky but repaid it with a punch to slam him to the wall. Oars aims a punch at Robin but before he could hit her Rose flies in front of him and gives him a twister punch to the face.

She fires a twister kick to his side but Oars blocks it and this time manages to hit her and swat her down. "So you're not a ghost after all."

She manages to get back up and looks at the sky to see that the fog is starting to lift. "Oh crap!"

Everyone else looks up in horror to see that they're out of the Florian Triangle.

"This isn't good. We don't have much time until morning comes. How did the fog lift so quickly?" Usopp asks.

"KISHISHI! You should thank your friends shadow for that." Moria reveals himself from the cockpit in Oars' stomach.

Oars looks down in shock. "What the hell? When did you get in my stomach Master Moria? Wait, since when did I have a cock pit in my stomach?! That's really cool, I'm like a robot!"

"What the hell?! When did he get in there?!" Chopper asks as he looks at him in shock.

"I thought Straw Hat was running after him." Franky says.

Zoro glares at Moria. "So he tricked Luffy. Looks like the only choice we have now is to defeat him."

"Usopp, go to the kitchen and get some salt." Sanji says causing Usopp to nod and starts running.

Moria looks at the group in amusement. "Oars, take care of the long nose first."

"Yes Master Moria." Oars goes to attack Usopp but Rose maneuvers him out of the way and glares at Oars.

"We're not finished yet!" Rose charges at Oars and Moria when Brook runs back with a huge back of salt.

"Sorry I'm late. I brought back as much salt as I could."

The others turn to him while Rose distracts Oars.

"No, that should be enough to take him down. Thanks, are you alright?" Franky asks.

"Don't worry; I drank some milk to heal up my bones."

"CALCIUM CAN'T HEAL BROKEN BONES!" Chopper yells.

"Forget that, Usopp while Rose is distracting Oars make a slingshot to shoot the salt." Sanji says as they turn to back to the fight.

Rose keeps attacking with as many twisters as possible while dodging Oars' attacks. (I can't risk my logia abilities messing up again. I gotta keep this up!)

"THUNDER TEMPO!" Everyone looks in shock as Nami runs to the scene on the bridge and shocks Oars.

"NAMI SWAAN! I'M SO GLAD YOU'RE ALRIGHT!" Sanji yells as he love tornadoes.

"SHUT UP! HE'S GONNA NOTICE ME!" Nami yells but it was too late as Oars runs to the bridge and destroys it but before Nami falls Rose sends her flying with her and lands her with the group.

"Thanks Rose!" Nami says as she gets her staff ready while Rose keeps going after Oars.

Moria watches her attempts in amusement. "Kishishi! You really care about these pirates. I have to wonder why you're fighting for a group of people who don't even know you."

Rose glares at him as she dodges Oars. "Shut up! What I do is none of your business!"

"Oars, grab her."

Oars does as he was told and before Rose could escape he grabs her with his right arm.

"ROSE!" The crew yells as they watch Oars force Rose to face Moria.

Moria keeps his grin as he watches her struggle in Oars' grasp. "The burden of keeping this big a secret must be heavy on you. Wouldn't it be easier to just tell them? After all your enemies know what you are. Or is it that you don't want them to hate you?"

She clenches her teeth at his words and tries to get out of the grip which only makes it tighter. "Ugh!"

"HANG ON FRECKLES! LONG NOSE FIRE ME!" Franky runs into a giant rubber slingshot Usopp finished created and pulled as far back as he could then allowed Usopp to send him flying at Oars. "LET GO OF MY FRIEND! STRONG RIGHT!" He fires his right arm at him and hits him in the face, but he immediately recovers and punches Franky with his left arm while he was mid-air and slammed him to the ground and knocked him out.

"FRANKY!" Rose tries to push the hand off of her with her wind but it doesn't work.

Nami creates a dark thunder cloud in front of Oars while Usopp uses the slingshot to shoot Brook into the air and become the conductor for the lightning and became a lightning arrow and went through Oars' right shoulder but sent him crashing through the building and knocked him out as well.

"ACK!" Oars accidentally let's go of Rose causing her to aim a twister kick at Moria but Oars quickly reacted and used his arms to cover the attack.

"KISHISHI! Good work Oa- WAAAH!" Robin placed Oars in a hold with her devil fruit powers.

"Way to go Robin!" Nami says when Moria's shadow comes out of Oars and turns into bats and bites Robin until Sanji blocks them.

(Crap!) Rose quickly flies over to Robins side while Robin puts a clutch on Moria but realizes that he and the shadow switched places. Before Moria can take Robin's shadow Rose sends him flying and slams him to the wall.

Zoro looks at him in shock. "What the hell?! He can switch places with his shadow?!"

Moria smirks at the group. "I can do much more than that. Of course you all should know with the outsider on your-"

"TWISTER PUNCH!" Rose punches Moria and holds him down with her wind. "GUYS, TAKE CARE OF OARS!" Rose turns back to Moria to realize that he switched places with his shadow and is back in Oars' stomach.

"KISHISHI! Very sensitive aren't we? Don't worry, I won't tell them what you are. After all, they'll find out soon enough when they reach the afterlife."

"SHUT UP!" Rose releases her hold on the shadow and fires a twister kick at Oars' stomach which Oars blocks to protect Moria. All the while while Chopper managed to climb onto Oars due to the distraction and found his weak point.

"GUYS, AIM YOUR ATTACKS ON HIS RIGHT SHOULDER! THAT WAS A MAJOR WOUND HE HAD WHEN HE DIED!"

"Sneaky twerp! I hope you're ready to fly!" Oars punches Chopper and sends him flying while Robin catches him with her hands.

"Usopp, we're gonna give you a shot so get the salt ready. Rose, give us a boost!" Zoro says as he and Sanji start running to the zombie.

Rose sends the two of them flying straight for Oars' right shoulder.

"DIABLE JAMBE!"

"THREE SWORD STYLE SANTORYUU!"

Both of them land a direct hit on Oars' right shoulder causing him to grunt in pain as he slams them to the ground.

"Why you-"

While Oars was talking Usopp managed to shoot the salt in his mouth.

"Alright! That should do it." Nami says with a smile as the others look in relief that a shadow was coming out until they see that it's Moria's Shadow holding the bag of salt.

Moria laughs at the attempt. "Kishishi. You really think I wouldn't plan ahead for Oars' weak points? Oars, stomp them all!" Oars goes to step on them but Rose sends the group flying out of the way. "Ah, I almost forgot about you. Oars, grab the girl again!"

Oars goes to grab her until he was punched in the face by Nightmare Luffy. "OI! LEAVE MY FRIENDS ALONE!"

Oars and Moria look at him in confusion while the crew looks at him in shock.

(Nightmare Luffy? AWESOME!) Rose looks at him with excitement as he glares at Oars.

Usopp looks at him in surprise. "Is that really Luffy?"

Moria looks at him in shock "So shadows were placed inside of you. I can only guess where you got them. Oars take him down."

Oars nods in agreement and goes to punch him but Luffy blocked it with one hand then jumps to attack Oars.

While the fight was going on Rose managed to get Franky and Brook out of the way while the Rolling Pirates run in to get the others to safety.

Rose looks at the two of them with concern as they regain consciousness. "Franky, Brook you two alright?"

Franky gives her a thumbs up. "Don't worry Freckles. I'm SUPER!"

Brook nods in agreement. "As am I my dear. I haven't felt this alive in a while. Of course that's because I'm already dead! YOHOHO!"

She chuckles at their enthusiasm. "Glad to hear." She lands the two of them with the others and watch Nightmare Luffy taking Oars down with ease.

Usopp turns to one of the pirates. "You guys placed shadows inside Luffy?"

The captain of the crew Lola nods. "Yup, I'm impressed at how many shadows he was able to take along with his own shadow."

Rose couldn't keep her eyes away from the fight. (I know he's kicking my shadow's ass, but this fight is awesome!)

"GUM GUM BAZOOKA!" Nightmare Luffy brought the final blow to Oars as he collapsed with Moria still inside his stomach.

Luffy landed right in front of Oars and collapsed as the shadows started leaving his body.

"Luffy!" Everyone surrounds him while the shadows flew in the air including Zoro's shadow as it returns to his body.

Zoro looks down at his shadow in shock. "That's where my shadow went?!"

Nami looks at the shadow in surprise. "Did your shadow get lost Zoro?"

"It didn't get lost!"

"You can talk about it later right now we need to get our shadows back from Moria. The sun's going to rise any minute" Lola says as they turn to Moria who's getting up from Oars' stomach.

Everyone glares at him as he turns to the group. "GIVE BACK OUR SHADOWS!"

"Kishishi. You honestly think I'll just obey. You brats made a real mess of my place."

Luffy gets back up and glares at Moria "YOU'RE THE ONE WHO INTERFERED WITH OUR ADVENTURE!"

"It would've happened whether or not I attacked you. Do you honestly think that you weaklings can handle the New World? Even with the little outsider helping you along the way you'll all fall. Just as my original crew did in the New World. The only way for a crew to make it isn't power or information but with an army that can't die. I'LL SHOW YOU ALL!" Moria absorbs all of the shadow from the zombies on the island including Oars' and grew to Oars' size.

(This is bad. The sun is starting to come out.) Rose looks up at the sky to see rays of sunlight starting to come out while Luffy walks in front of Moria.

He gets in a battle stance as he starts up second gear. "Everyone stay back. I'm not gonna hold back, so I'll leave everything to you afterwards."

Everyone steps back and watches as Luffy charges at Moria. "GUM GUM JET PISTOL!"

Moria takes the hit as shadows start seeping out of his mouth.

"It's only a matter of time now." Rose says with a grin until her body starts turning to ash. (Ack! It's starting! I won't hide; my shadow will be back soon.)

"He's losing control over the shadows!" Usopp says as they watch Luffy take a hit against Moria's shadow but got right back up and started using third gear.

"LUFFY! IT'S DANGEROUS TO USE BOTH TECHNIQUES! YOUR BODY WON'T KEEP UP!" Chopper yells while Luffy ignores him and turns his arm into the size of a giant's.

"GUM GUM GIANT PISTOL!" Luffy hits Moria in the stomach with more shadow trying to escape but Moria covers his mouth the try to stop them from escaping.

Luffy hits his stomach one more time forcing Moria to spit out all the shadows and start to keel over.

"Fine, see for yourself how the New World is. Who knows? Maybe with the outsider you can-"

Before he could finish Rose gives him a twister kick to the gut to knock him down and pass out while she's still turning to ash. (He really can't shut up.) She collapses with half her body turned to ash along with Sanji.

"ROSE! SANJI!" The others surround them while they were turning to ash until suddenly both of their shadows returned and their bodies returned back to normal.

Sanji sighs in relief as he starts to love tornado "That was close, but if I died along with Rose-chan I wouldn't mind!"

Rose stands back up and looks at her body. "That's a relief. So that's what it's like for vampires in the sun. Hahaha!"

"QUIT LAUGHING!" Nami yells while the others sigh in relief then turn to see Luffy collapse and pass out from the fight.

"How is he Doctor?" Robin asks as Chopper evaluates Luffy.

"He overdid it with using both third and second gear. He should be ok though."

"We need to step up our game. We can't let Luffy over do this." Usopp says causing the others to nod until Zoro turns to Rose.

"Rose, why did Moria place your shadow in Oars?"

(Oh no!) Rose widens her eyes as they turn to her then looks at the ground. "W-well… Moria thought I was a big deal because I was offered a spot in the Shichibukai."

Everyone but Nami, Usopp and Chopper widened their eyes at what she said.

"Whoa seriously?" Franky says.

"Yea but don't worry I turned them down."

"That wasn't the only reason Moria did it right?" Robin asks causing them all to look at Rose expecting an answer.

(This is bad!) Rose starts trembling with worry until they hear a den den mushi on the roof. (You gotta be kidding. Not this guy too!) Rose looks up in frustration to find Kuma talking to Sengoku through the den den mushi.

The den den mushi frowns at hearing that Moria was defeated. "We can't have the public knowing that another Shichibukai was defeated by Straw Hat. All the witnesses are to be annihilated."

Kuma nods. "Understood."

"What the- Who's that?! Did he say annihilate?!" Brook asks

"Guys, this isn't good. That's Kuma, another one of the Shichibukai!" Nami says.

Zoro, Franky, Sanji and Usopp widen their eyes at what she said as they remember what Oars said. ("Watch out for Moria and Kuma. Those two are trouble.") They turn to Rose who's glaring at Kuma while the wind picks up around her as he jumps off the roof and lands in front of the group.

The Rolling Pirates look at him with broken expressions. "It's not right. We just got our shadows back."

"We were just freed from this curse and now they want us dead!"

"We won't let you kill us or the Straw Hats!" They charge at Kuma with swords out to attack but Kuma goes through them at ease with his devil fruit power. Franky and Sanji charged to attack him but he deflected their attacks with his hands and slammed them to the wall.

"GUYS!" Everyone watches them stagger back up as Kuma faced them.

"Which of the crew should I finish off first? How about you Catone Rose?"

Rose clenches her teeth in rage as she steps up with the wind around her getting stronger. "Fine by me. I've had enough of this crap! Guys, don't interfere!" (This part of the manga always pissed me off. Everyone was just freed from Moria's curse. They didn't need Kuma coming and almost killing Zoro with Luffy's pain. IT'S ENOUGH BULLSHIT ALREADY!)

The wind surrounds her and starts forming a body around her. (What's going on? My wind never did this before. I don't care as long as I can kick his ass!) "YOU WANT A PIECE OF ME KUMA?! BRING IT ON!" Rose started floating as the winds covered her limbs like a suit of armor and gave her a body the same size as Kuma.

"What's happening to her?" Brook asks as he and the others watch the fight in shock.

"We don't know! This never happened before!" Usopp says as they watch her go to punch him but he uses his devil fruit to defect them with ease as the tornadoes make holes in different walls.

She clenches her teeth in rage as she keeps going and forcing as much wind from her body as possible. Kuma attacks her with his paws but she blocks it with her wind then kicks him in the head and send him flying to the wall. He immediately gets back up and blocks her incoming wind punches. He immediately attacks and manages to get his arms through the wind and sends her flying to the rubble but immediately recovers and faces him.

Chopper notices Roses staggered breathing through the wind barrier but keeps going as she goes toe to toe with Kuma. "This is bad. She's wearing herself out."

Kuma punches through her wind again and uses his paws to attack her head and knocks her out causing her to lose her wind armor and fall to the ground.

"ROSE!" The others run to him as he prepares another attack.

"I'm impressed with how far you're willing to go for them Wind Rider." Before he could hit her Sanji kicks him in the head from behind but falls to the ground holding his leg in pain.

"AAH! What the hell are you made of?!"

"You must be Black Leg Sanji." Kuma turns and blocks Usopp's exploding star with his hands. "And Sniper King."

"WHAT THE HELL IS WITH THIS GUY'S HANDS?!" Usopp yells as he notices the paw prints in Kuma's hands.

"I ate the paw paw fruit."

"That's a lame-" Before Franky could finish Kuma attacks him and sends him flying through the wall.

"You shouldn't be underestimating your opponents Cyborg Franky." Kuma starts creating an air bomb with his paws scaring everyone. "This crew has become very dangerous. However, I will spare your lives on one condition. Give up Straw Hat Luffy."

Everyone's eyes widen at the offer.

Kuma finished preparing the bomb and faces them. "What's your answer?"

Everyone glares at him as they yell. "HELL NO!"

"Very well." He sets off the air bomb knocking everyone out.

He walks up to Luffy's unconscious body and goes to grab him until Zoro attacked him. Kuma fired a laser through his mouth at Zoro but he dodges and lands on his knees front of Luffy.

Kuma watches Zoro as he struggle to get back up. "You've very persistent Roronoa Zoro."

"Like I'd let you attack him. If you need someone's head to satisfy the World Government then take mine. I know my bounty isn't as high yet but I'm the one who'll become the world's greatest swordsman. If I can't protect my captain's dream my dream would just be talk."

"Idiot. If you die what about your dream?" Sanji says as he walks in between Zoro and Kuma. "If you want a head take mine. If you don't I'll make sure the World Government regrets it. Moss Head, tell the others to take care and it looks like you'll need a new-"

Zoro cuts him off by jabbing him with the scabbard of the katana and knocks him out then turns to Kuma. "Do we have a deal?"

Kuma nods. "Rest assured I won't harm Luffy and your friends. But you on the other hand will suffer absolute hell." He grabs Luffy and uses his devil fruit to push out Luffy's pain and into a giant paw a little more than half of Kuma's size.

"This is all of Straw Hat's pain and exhaustion. In return for sparing him and the others I'm going to insert this pain inside you. Have a taste of what's to come." He takes out a piece of it and inserts it into Zoro.

He immediately feels excruciating pain and falls to his knees. He gets back up while panting. "Very well. Just let me choose the location."

Kuma places the pain in an abandoned clearing and watches as Zoro took all the pain. Afterwards he left the island with the others unharmed. He looks back at the island as he sails away. "Dragon, your son chose some very loyal companions."

* * *

Hours later the group started waking up except for Rose. Chopper took Rose inside and placed her on one of the beds the Rolling Pirates got ready for the injured. Sanji ran off in a hurry to find Zoro while the others watched Chopper treat her injuries.

"Will she be alright?" Brook asks causing Chopper to nod.

"She's just exhausted. Whatever she did with her wind against Kuma took its toll on her. Along with fighting Oars, and losing her shadow it's no wonder it'll take longer for her to wake up."

"I can try waking her up again." Luffy says as he walks up to her but Usopp runs up to him and stops him.

"Waking her up with a kiss doesn't work!"

Nami looks at him with excitement. "Luffy, you tried waking her up with a kiss?!"

Luffy nods. "Yea, I did what you said and tried waking her up after she was knocked out by Moria but your advice sucked."

Nami whacked him on the head before explaining. "My advice wasn't for when she was knocked out! Kissing only works when you try to wake her up from a regular night's sleep or a nightmare."

Luffy nods in understanding. "So that's how it is. Ok!"

Robin giggles at the advice while Usopp, Brook and Franky sweat drop at Luffy's simplicity.

"CHOPPER!" Everyone turns to see Sanji running back frantically while carrying an unconscious Zoro on his back.

Chopper looks at him in shock. "WAAH! What happened to Zoro?! Place him on the bed next to Roses! He's gotta be treated!"

Sanji does as he's told and places Zoro on the second bed. The others in the crew look at him in worry while Chopper works to treat Zoro's injuries.

"What happened to Zoro?" Usopp asks

"I don't know, but I hope he's alright. We had some real bad luck though, having to face two Shichibukai in one night." Nami says when Franky turns to them.

"Skeleton, stay here to help Deer-Gorilla. Guys, come with me. We need to talk." Luffy, Nami, Usopp, Robin and Sanji followed him outside until he stopped and turned to them. "There's something you need to know. Before Freckles' shadow lost its will to Moria Swordsman, Long Nose, Curly Cook and I met the zombie. We were all ready to fight him but he refused to fight and left to go find the Timore Comet. Before he left though he warned us not only about Moria but about Kuma too. It's safe to guess that Freckles knew that Kuma was going to be here."

The others except Usopp and Sanji widened their eyes in shock.

"You're serious?!" Luffy asks.

Sanji nods. "We think so. This isn't the first time she had this kind of information either. Like when Nami, Usopp and Chopper were out on the Mini Merry. All of a sudden she was trying to get them to come back just before they went missing. I have a feeling that she knew they were gonna get lost."

Everyone but Robin widen their eyes at what he said.

Usopp crosses his arms over his chest in thought. "She even knew about the salt. I have a feeling that she wasn't just being cautious. She knew that we'd wind up here. Ever since she joined us it was like she knew exactly what was going to happen in our adventures."

Nami groans in frustration. "This is crazy! The World Government must know what's going on with her as well or they wouldn't have offered her a spot in the Shichibukai. It doesn't make sense though. Why did Moria call her an outsider? When she wakes up I'm going to talk to her." She starts walking back inside.

"Hold on Nami." Robin says causing her to stop as everyone turns their attention to her. "We don't need to interrogate her. I've known exactly what's been going on with Rose since we left Water Seven. I think it's time you all know as well."

TO BE CONTINUED


	16. Chapter 16

The group widened their eyes after hearing Robin's explanation about Rose.

"Are you positive Robin-chan?" Sanji asks causing her to nod.

"I'm sure. I was surprised as well when I first found out."

Nami ran a hand through her hair. "That's nuts! I can't believe something like that exists!"

"I can imagine why she wouldn't tell us. After all, something like that is hard to swallow." Franky says.

Luffy crosses his arms over his chest and starts pouting. "I can't believe she hid something this awesome from us!"

Usopp sweat drops at his attitude "You'd be the only one who wouldn't find it odd Luffy… Still though, how do we go about this?"

Luffy looks at him in confusion. "What do you mean? We're gonna talk to her of course!"

Robin chuckles at his attitude. "I agree with the captain. As soon as she wakes up we'll let her know."

The others nod in agreement as they scatter.

* * *

 _"Take this!"_

 _13 year old Rose blocks another of her classmate Chris' punches as they face off in the middle of Martial Arts Club in the school's gym. She charges forward as she counters with a punch but he dodges and goes to kick her but she grabs his leg and knocks him off balance causing him to fall on his butt._

 _He grits his teeth in frustration. "You little…"_

 _"All's fair in love and war Chris." She smirks at him as she crosses her arms over her chest causing him to get even more irritated as he gets back up. He charges at her but she dodges and low sweeps his legs causing him to fall as she grabs his shoulder and lightly punches his chest._

 _"THAT'S IT! Match goes to Rose." The teacher yells as he waves his arms signaling the match is over._

 _She grins as she lets go of him and pats his shoulder. "Good match. You've gotten pretty good." She turns her back to him as she walks away._

 _He glares at her then tries to bull rush her. "TAKE OUR MATCHES SERIOUSLY DAMNIT!"_

 _She side stepped to dodge his tackle and drop kicks him to the ground. "Seriously, how many times are you going to do that? It gets old." She sighs as she walks to the side of the room while the teacher goes to scold Chris for trying to attack her again._

 _A group of three students: Matt, Sarah and Hector look away from her as she walks past them. They start whispering to each other while Rose sits down with her back against the wall while grabbing a manga from her bag and starts reading._

 _"Man, I'm glad I didn't fight Rose this time." Matt whispers._

 _Sarah nods as she looks at Rose nervously. "Yea, she's pretty scary. She's not even serious when fighting here. I hate to imagine what would happen if she was."_

 _"I heard that she broke 3 kids' noses just for insulting her dead parents." Hector whispers._

 _Sarah turns to him in shock. "Seriously?! Weren't her parents those crazy astronomers that talked about other worlds? I heard she's trying to research that fake comet too."_

 _Matt nods. "Apple doesn't fall too far from the tree I guess."_

 _*SLAM* They froze when they heard Rose slam her manga back in the bag, zipped it up and got ready to leave. "Sensei, I gotta head out. I'll see you tomorrow." The teacher nods as she walks past the trio and gives them a sideways glare. (If they have a problem with me they could at least say it to my face like Chris does. It's best if I leave. I'd rather not get scolded by sensei again for fighting outside sparring.)_

 _They froze at her glare and watch her head to the door._

 _Matt started whispering again accidentally loud enough for Rose to hear. "I'll say this much. If there is a thing as other worlds they can have her. One less freak for us to deal with."_

 _Rose clenches her teeth and clenches her bag as she forces herself to leave before she lost her temper._

* * *

Rose slowly wakes up and sighs from the bad memory. She turns her head to find Zoro unconscious in the second bed and looks at him in guilt. (Zoro... I'm sorry I couldn't stop him…)

She tries to sit up quickly but stopped to place her hand on her head to try soothe her massive headache. (Ack! Rotten panda bear! I can't believe that guy's a Revolutionary. I gotta say though, whatever I did with my wind back there was kind of awesome! If I learn how to channel that part willingly that'll be great! Where is everybody anyway?)

She looks around the room to see that she and Zoro are the only ones in the room except for some unconscious members of the Rolling Pirates. She kicks her legs off the bed and slowly gets up and walks outside. (They're probably at the ship right- Wait…)

She widens her eyes as she remembers the interrogation she went through before Kuma came in. (SHIT! THEY'RE MORE SUSPICIOUS OF ME THAN EVER! "Why not just tell them? Or is that you don't want them to hate you?")

She shakes her head to get Moria's words out of her head. "How am I gonna get out of this one?" She walks away from the mansion until she finds Brook playing Binks' Sake in the graveyard. She smiles as she walks over to him while he's blocking out the world with his music.

When he finishes he snaps out of it to find her applauding. "Why hello there Rose-san. How are you feeling?"

"I feel better Brook thank you. How about you?"

"I feel fantastic! To feel the sun on my skin again is wonderful! Of course it would be if skeletons had any skin. YOHOHOHO! I know a way to feel better though. Would you let me see you panties?"

She flies up and whacks him on the head. "Nope."

"YOHOHOHO! Very well. Are you looking for your crewmates? They should be on the ship along with the Rolling Pirates."

"Actually, I'm going to fly for a bit. If you wouldn't tell them you saw me that would be-"

"WAAAH, SHE'S GONE!" Both Brook and Rose turn to the mansion to hear Chopper yelling.

"Uh oh." Rose turns to Brook. "Please don't tell them I was here."

He nods as she flies off.

* * *

"What happened?!" Nami says as she and the others run into the mansion to find Chopper scrambling about.

"Rose disappeared! She slipped away when I went to the bathroom! We gotta find her!"

The others look at him in shock.

"Did she run away?" Usopp asks

Robin shakes her head. "I doubt it, but in any case she couldn't have gone far."

Luffy hid his eyes under his bangs before turning around and running. "I'M GONNA FIND HER!"

He runs around the island to try to find her but no luck. He stops at a clearing then sits down and groans in frustration. (Damnit! Where could she be?) He looks up in frustration and freezes when he sees a cloud that's completely still and is going against the wind currents then realizes that Rose is hiding in it.

He keeps his glare on the cloud as he stands up. "ROSE! GET OUT OF THE CLOUD RIGHT NOW!"

(Ah crap, he found me…) Rose looks outside nervously and sees him waiting for her to come down. (I still have no clue on what to say… I guess I'll have to play it by ear if the subject comes up.) She slowly starts floating back down when suddenly Luffy stretches his arm and grabs her and pulls her into an embrace with her back to him.

She lightly blushes at the embrace as she gets herself out. "Don't worry so much Luffy, I'm ok. Sorry about leaving the bed, I just wanted to fly around to think. How about you? Are you-" She cuts herself off when she turns to see Luffy looking down while hiding his eyes under his hat. (Something's not right!) "Hey Luffy you ok? What happened?"

He remains still as he speaks. "Why?"

She looks at him in confusion. "Eh?"

He lifts his head up to glare at her. "Why didn't you tell us the reason you were called an outsider?!"

She looks at his glare in shock. "W-wait a second! What are you saying?! You mean you know?!"

"Of course I know! I also know why you know so much about what's going to happen!"

She steps back in shock. (What?! How does he know?! Did Kuma say something?! No, he's too quiet, Oars must've said something! …Either way, I guess this means it's over…) She bites her bottom lip as she looks at the ground while trembling. "Luffy, I… I'm sorry; I can only imagine how shocking it was to hear the truth. I'll do my best to answer any questions you have, and I understand if you don't want me in the crew any-"

"Shut up!" Luffy grabs both of her arms and pulls her close to him causing her to face him in shock as tears appear in the corner of her eyes. "Who said anything about you leaving the crew?! I won't accept that!"

Her heart started racing as she faces him with a blush creeping on her face. "What? But, aren't you mad?"

"I'm mad that you didn't tell us sooner! I can't believe you kept something as awesome as being a psycho from us!"

She blinks in surprise then rubs the threatening tears off of her eyes. (How can he be so ok with me being a-) She freezes as she processes Luffy's last sentence then looks at him blankly. "Did you just call me a 'psycho'?"

Sanji runs to the scene and gets Rose out of Luffy's embrace then kicks him on the head. "ROBIN DIDN'T SAY SHE WAS A PSYCHO MORON! SHE SAID THAT SHE WAS PSYCHIC!"

She widens her eyes in shock. (THEY THINK I'M PSYCHIC?!) She looks around to see the crew but Brook and Zoro catching up to them.

She calms down and turns to Robin. "So… Robin told you guys my secret did she?"

Robin giggles at Roses reaction then winks at her causing Rose to look at her in shock. (Robin definitely knows!) She turns back to the group. "What exactly did she tell you?"

"She told us that you could see into the future. However, your visions vary from a few minutes ahead to days in advance." Chopper says.

(What the-? Actually, that's a really good cover.) Rose pushes a hand through her brown hair nervously. "Well… I know what'll happen to an extent…"

Nami nods. "So Robin was right huh? I gotta say, when she told us it was really shocking. I can't believe the World Government though. Having the nerve to call you an outsider because of your research then asking you to join them because of your foresight! How did they figure you out anyway?"

"That I can tell you! You guys remember Spandam right? I learned that he was planning to use Pluton to try to overthrow the World Government. So, back in Enies Lobby I used a tone dial to record a conversation I had with him getting him to confess his plans. During the conversation though, some things slipped and my secret got out. The consolation though was I managed to give the tone dial to the marines, so he's probably in Impel Down by now."

Everyone but Robin looks at her in shock.

She quirks an eyebrow at them. "What? The guy was a jerk. Anyway, you guys aren't scared of me? I mean about this… 'Ability'?"

Nami shakes her head with a smile. "Why would we be scared? You've only been helping us all this time!"

Usopp nods in agreement. "I'll admit I was shocked at first but your ability is really amazing. If anyone in the crew has a problem with you the great Captain Usopp has your back!"

"I couldn't be scared of you Rose-chwan! Can you see our future together?!" Sanji asks as he love tornadoes but she shakes her head.

"I always knew you were SUPER Freckles!" Franky smiles as he gets in his signature pose.

Luffy gives her his toothy grin as he crosses his arms over his chest. "There's no way we could be scared! I have an important question for you though. Can-"

Rose lifts a hand up to stop him as she holds back from laughing. "Yes Luffy, I can poop."

He looks at her in excitement. "WHOA! YOU REALLY CAN SEE THE FUTURE!"

Nami and Sanji whack/kick him on the head. "DON'T ASK HER THAT!"

Rose laughs at the scene in front of her then softly smiles at them. "Thanks guys. You're the best." (I love this crew.)

The crew smiles back at her then Nami turns to leave. "Alright, let's get back to the mansion and finish preparing!"

"Yes Nami-swan!" Sanji says as he follows her back to the mansion along with Franky, Usopp and Luffy.

Chopper turns to Rose. "Rose, come with me. We need to check your injuries."

Rose nods but before she leaves Robin places a hand on her shoulder. "Doctor, would it be alright if I talk to Rose first? I'll make sure she goes to you as soon as we're done."

Rose nods in agreement. "You ought to be more worried about Zoro anyway Doc. Luffy should be trying to wake him up by making him drink a barrel of sake right about now."

"WHAT?!" Chopper frantically runs back to stop Luffy from pouring sake down Zoro's throat while both girls giggled.

Rose recovers then turns to Robin while Robin keeps her amused grin. "Alright, come with me."

Robin nods as Rose sends the two of them flying into the broken freezer and lands them safely inside.

Once she knows they're alone she turns to Robin. "How long have you known the truth?"

"Since I overheard your conversation with Aokiji. I must say, it was really shocking to hear that the Timore Comet managed to bring you to this dimension."

She widens her eyes in shock then sighs while pushing a hand through her hair. "You planted an ear on me didn't you?"

Robin nods. "I still don't understand though. How exactly do you know so much about this world?"

She looks around in worry. (Cat's already out of the bag, so I guess it can't get any worse…) "Well… In my world this world is a story. I know it sounds weird but let me explain. You see, this universe and mine are ones in millions possibly billions out there and they're all connected. Stories in one world are real events happening in another. I'm positive that any novel you find is also a window to another universe out there. Does that make any sense?"

Robin nods. "It's a very interesting concept and it makes sense as to how you know so much. How much more do you know?"

"Just a few more events in the future and then I'll basically be like everyone else here."

"I see. Did you choose this dimension or did you come here by accident?"

"It's actually a funny story. I didn't know before but the crystal in my necklace is actually the piece needed in order to absorb the Timore Comet's energy. The night before I came here I wished on the comet to get me out of my world without thinking it would work. During that time I guess the crystal managed to gather enough energy to grant my wish, because the next morning I found myself waking up on the Merry. Hehe, in a way I guess you can call it a happy accident. I think that's enough answering on my end though, I got a question for you. Why did you cover for me?"

"The others were becoming suspicious on how you knew so much. Especially since Oars revealed that you knew that Kuma was going to be here." Rose widened her eyes at the statement but kept quiet as Robin continued. "Then after seeing how nervous you were to talk about it I felt that you weren't ready to tell them yet so I improvised. Consider this repayment for not telling the others about Ohara until I was ready to talk about it."

Robin starts walking out of the freezer but Rose runs in front of her. "Hold on Robin, I have another question for you. You're not upset with me? I mean, I'm an outsider that knew things about you that I shouldn't have."

She shakes her head. "Can't say I wasn't surprised, but I'm not mad. If anything this is rather amusing. I know the others wouldn't be upset either but it's your decision when to tell them. You're wrong on one account though. You're not an outsider; you're a Straw Hat Pirate."

Rose was shocked at the last sentence as she remembered what she told Robin. ("You're no curse to the world Robin; you're a Straw Hat Pirate.") She started to relax as she softly smiled at her. "… Thank you Robin, I really appreciate what you did. I promise to tell them when I no longer know what's going to happen. In the meantime I'll do my best to help while not interfering too much."

Robin nods with a soft smile. "I'm glad to hear that. Let's get back to the others."

She nods as she sends the two of them flying back to the mansion where the others were. They walk inside to find the party started and everyone singing along to Binks' Sake.

When the song ended Chopper spotted Rose and jumped off the table he was dancing on. "Come with me Rose, I need to check your head injuries!"

She nods with a smile as she sits down next to Chopper as he checks her head then sighs. "You look ok, but you better be more careful! Your injury count is starting to compete with Luffy and Zoro."

She giggles at the comparison. "Sorry about that, I can't help myself when I'm in a fight. I promise to take it easy while we're on the island."

Chopper nods in approval as he finishes up and gets back to dancing on the table with Franky.

She relaxes in her chair as she takes a drink from a mug of water and looks over at Brook as he plays the piano and talking to Luffy. "So you met Laboon? That's wonderful! How big has he gotten?"

"He's the size of a mountain!"

"I see. You know, in the past I found it hard to keep going but today. I'M SO GLAD TO BE ALIVE! YOHOHOHO!" He starts crying tears of joy causing everyone to look at him with a smile as he stops playing. "Is your offer to be in your crew still open?"

Luffy nods. "Yup, welcome aboard!"

Everyone but Rose and Robin look at him in shock.

"Welcome to the crew Brook." Rose says as she and the other guys lift Brook up in the air to start celebrating.

As the party continued Rose sat to the side and watched the crew having fun with a small grin. (I can't believe I get to see the crew complete! I'm so glad I didn't get kicked out. Would the others really be this ok with me if they knew the truth? I guess when the time comes I'll know. "If there's a thing as other worlds they can have her. One less freak for us to deal with.")

She shakes her head to get the memory out of her head. (One thing's for certain, I'm never going to regret coming here.) She relaxes in her seat when suddenly Luffy stretches his arm to grab hers and pulls her to the dance floor.

"What are you doing sitting around? Join the fun!"

She recovers from the shock then grins as she nods. "Yea!"

The party went on the entire night as Rose danced the night away with Luffy and the crew.

* * *

Days have past and the day where the crew had to depart from Thriller Bark has arrived.

Franky finishes the final preparation of Brook's boat then jumps down and walks to the Rolling Pirates' captain Lola. "You guys can take Brook's old ship. I fixed the rudder so it should work properly for you guys."

"Thank you very much! As thanks how about you marry me?" Lola asks.

"Sorry, as lovely as you are I'm too super. We wouldn't match." Franky walks up to the Sunny.

Luffy pumps his fist in excitement. "I CAN'T WAIT FOR FISHMAN ISLAND!"

Sanji starts love tornadoing in excitement. "Oh the beautiful mermaids! I can't wait!"

Brook nods in agreement. "I hope we can see the mermaids panties."

One of the Rolling Pirates looks to them in disapproval. "Don't be stupid! Mermaids don't wear panties!"

Sanji and Brook get nosebleeds at the thought then start dancing with the Rolling Pirate in excitement.

Robin looks at them in confusion then turns to Rose. "Aren't mermaids lower halves fish? Why are they excited?"

Rose shrugs her shoulders. "Beats me. I'm just curious as to how Brook can have a nosebleed. Oh well, life's full of mysteries."

Robin nods in agreement as she, Usopp, Sanji and Brook start boarding.

Rose gives one last look at the island. (This was a crazy adventure, but at least nothing too bad happened.)

"ZORO! STOP TAKING YOUR BANDAGES OFF!" Rose turns to see Chopper yelling as he forces Zoro's bandages back on.

Zoro struggles as Chopper puts the bandages on. "Stop it Chopper! They get in the way!"

"THAT'S THE POINT!" Chopper finishes getting the bandages back on then boards the Sunny.

Zoro huffs then stops to see Rose.

She looks at him nervously. (I know the others told him but I still feel bad…) "Hey Zoro, how you holding up?"

Zoro nods as he keeps his stern expression. "I'll be fine. How about you?"

"Same here… Look, about Kuma I'm-"

He pinches her cheek to stop her from apologizing. "Quit being hard on yourself. If you could've prevented him from attacking you would have done so."

He lets go of her cheek causing her to rub the sore spot while he crosses his arms over his chest. "Of all the things, I didn't expect you to be psychic. I always knew something was off about you."

His face softens as he chuckles. "Guess that shows this is the crew for you." He walks onto the ship leaving her surprised.

(Was that a compliment? Hehe, glad to see we're friends now.) She smiles when she turns to see Luffy and Nami talking to Lola.

"Take this vivre card, if you see mama in the New World let her know that I'm doing alright." Lola hands Nami a piece of her mom's vivre card causing her to be confused.

"A piece of paper?"

Lola nods. "This is a vivre card. It represents the life force of the person who created the card. It also leads you to the card's creator."

Luffy widens his eyes as he looks at it and takes a vivre card from his hat. "I have something like that!"

"Right! Ace gave you his back in Alabasta!" Nami says causing Roses eyes to widen.

(I can't listen to this!) She flies back onto the deck of the ship before she could hear that Ace's vivre card was shrinking. She keeps quiet as Luffy and Nami board the boat and turns to the Rolling Pirates and starts waving as the ship starts leaving.

"GOOD LUCK OUT THERE! BE CAREFUL WHEN GETTING BACK ON YOUR JOURNEY!" Rose yells as she waves at them.

"SEE YOU AROUND!" Luffy yells.

"BE CAREFUL AND DON'T GET ANNIHILATED!" Brook yells causing Usopp to turn to him in shock.

"DON'T EVEN SAY THAT AS A JOKE!"

"GOODBYE! I HOPE WE MEET AGAIN!" Lola yells as they no longer see the Sunny.

As the ship gets back on course Rose looks out into the horizon while gripping the railing. (What am I gonna do? Not only are we going to separate, but Ace… During the trip to Sabaody Archipelago I have to make a decision about what I'm going to do about Marineford.) She tightens her grip on the railing until Luffy places a hand on her shoulder snapping her out of her thoughts.

Luffy tilts his head in confusion. "You alright Rose? Wait, did you get a vision?! What did you see?!"

She shakes her head with a soft grin. "Sorry Luffy. I didn't get a vision I was just thinking."

He looks at her in disappointment. "Aww, oh well."

Nami walks up to the two of them. "Are you sure about not going to help Ace Luffy?"

Luffy nods with a grin. "Yeah it's fine. Ace has his own adventures to live. He doesn't need me to go save him. Besides, I'd just get in the way."

Rose clenches her fists as she remains silent. (I'm sorry Luffy… We have to go through Sabaody Archipelago… It's the only way to get ready for the New World. As for Ace, I don't know what I'm going to do about-)

"Rose-chan! Here's your drink!" Sanji says as he offers her a tray full of mugs.

Rose snaps out of it and takes one from the tray. "Thanks Sanji, sorry for spacing out." (I better think about it when I'm alone…) She joins the crew as Luffy steps up.

"Since Zoro was asleep during the party we gotta do it again! To celebrate our long awaited musician. Let's celebrate!"

The crew clashes their mugs and begins the party to celebrate the arrival of their new crew member.

TO BE CONTINUED


	17. Chapter 17

Another day comes to a close for the Straw Hat Pirates as they make their way through the Grand Line. Dinner has just finished and the crew was doing their usual activities while Rose, Luffy, Usopp and Chopper were playing tag while listening to Brook play his violin.

When he finished the four of them applauded him.

"That was great Brook." Rose says.

"You're very kind Rose-san. I heard you playing the guitar this morning as well it was real music to my ears. Or it would be if skeletons had any ears. YOHOHOHO!"

She giggles at the skull joke. "Thanks, if you don't mind I'd love to learn a few of your songs sometime."

He nods. "That would be lovely. Along with the lessons would it be alright if-"

"I won't show you my panties Brook." Rose says causing the others to laugh.

"Hey Rose, I've been curious. What's it like getting a vision?" Chopper asks.

Rose rubs the back of her neck nervously. "Well, it's kinda like a scene appearing in your head."

Luffy, Usopp, and Chopper looks at her with excitement.

"Wow! Can you see our futures?" Usopp asks causing her to shake her head.

"Sorry, even if I did I wouldn't tell you. It wouldn't really be fun that way."

Luffy nods in agreement. "Well said."

Nami leaves to get ready for bed. "Alright everyone, we should be getting to bed. We have a long day of traveling tomorrow. Luffy, remember you have night watch tonight."

Luffy nods as he climbs up to the crow's nest as the guys start heading in except for Rose.

(Damnit, I thought I had it tonight!) Rose runs in front of Nami and stops her before she could get inside and looks at her nervously. "Umm Nami, is it ok if I take night watch tonight instead?"

Nami looks at her in surprise but shakes her head. "Sorry, Luffy's past due for night watch. Besides, you haven't been getting that much sleep lately. Is everything alright?"

She nods with a reassuring smile. "Don't worry; I've just had a lot on my mind. Besides, my work's not gonna complete itself. Now that I think about it though, tonight's a good opportunity to catch up on some stargazing so this works out. Thanks, I'll see you tomorrow." She starts flying while waving her off while Nami weakly waves back then heads inside.

Rose quickly flies into the observatory through the window then closes while sighing. (It's best not to tell her that I don't want to sleep tonight…) She goes to her desk and picks up today's newspaper dating August 31st. (I'd rather not risk that nightmare coming again this year. I still can't believe it's been seven years since my folks… Coffee, and energy drinks haven't worked on keeping me awake an entire night so maybe an all-nighter can work this time.)

She places the newspaper back on her desk when Luffy barges into the room and walks up to her desk curiously. "Hey Rose, whatcha doing?"

She grins as she gets her star chart ready. "Just getting ready for my all-nighter. What about you? Bored of night watch already?"

He looks at her in surprise. "Can you read my mind too?"

She shakes her head with a grin. "No, you're just too easy to read."

He starts pouting. "Am not!"

"Hehe, _sure_ you're not."

"I'm not easy to read!"

"Oh, yeah? I bet you're gonna raid the fridge once the others go to bed."

He blinks in surprise then puffs his cheeks in a pout. "It's no fair using your visions!"

She giggles at his antics. (He's pretty fun to tease sometimes.) She turns to her desk to flip the switch to open the dome when Luffy snuck behind her and kissed her on the cheek before running.

"BET YOU DIDN'T THINK I'D DO THAT! SHISHISHI!" Rose froze in shock as she heard Luffy yelling as he closed the hatch to the observatory.

(That guy...) She sighed as she calmed herself down and went to her telescope to start stargazing.

* * *

Hours have passed and Rose decided to take a break from stargazing to try to find her crystal in the encyclopedia. (How many more crystals are left in this book? *Sigh* this is nuts, the World Government knew about this crystal long before I did. They could've easily erased the existence of-)

She stopped herself when she looked at the final page that was the only one that didn't have a picture of their respective crystal on it.

 **Onnet Crystal: a run of the mill crystal that's not even worth mentioning but felt I had to as my duty as a Geologist.**

She looks at the last page in confusion and turns it over to see what else is on it but the rest is blank. (What the hell? If it wasn't worth mentioning then there's no point in writing it down. Wait, this page feels different from the others. It feels heavier too. There's more to this!) She carefully tears the page off to get it closer to the light from the candle on her desk. When she did this she accidentally brought the page too close to the flame and accidentally sets it on fire.

(OH COME ON! I'M NOT EVEN A PYRO!) Rose immediately puts out the fire but the page is still intact but with new writing and a picture of a half red half black crystal that looks exactly like the one in Roses necklace. (NO WAY! SERIOUSLY?!) Rose looks at the page in excitement and finds a note at the bottom of the page.

 **WAHAHA! Congrats, you were either brilliant and figured out the secret or a lucky idiot that accidentally set my secret cover page on fire.**

Rose sweat drops at the message and kept on reading.

 **Apologies for the deceit, however it was the only way to get the information about the Onnet crystal out in the world while avoiding the World Government dogs. Finding out about this crystal is my greatest achievement. I couldn't stand not being able to share it just because its ability to collect astral energy can be used with Hell's Comet. Since you worked to the last page that must mean you want to learn about it as well. Who knows? If you're interested in the comet maybe this could help you. Well, in any case I leave my work to you. It's your decision on what you do with it. I did this to all my copies so I know someone will use my information. Enjoy my fellow crystal lover.**

 **Alun D. Flint  
**  
Rose couldn't stop smiling as she reads through the page and jots down the information into her journal that holds all of her information about the Timore Comet. (Haha! This is incredible! So the crystal is called Onnet huh? So it really can absorb astral energies! Any information about where these crystals come from?) She reads through it and finds out about the location.

 **The only location I've found the Onnet Crystal in was in the mines on Talon Island but the World Government has it heavily guarded. The mine is a crater on the island that's open to the sky and it's the only one I could find on the first half of the Grand Line. There's something special about that island's geology that causes the crystals to manifest. I haven't been able to get to the New World so there's a possibility of other islands possessing the crystal. If you're going to the New World I'd like you to help me complete my work. Finding out this much I'm grateful for but I want the full understanding. I leave the task to you.**

(I see, Alun D. Flint only made it to this half huh? Still though, this is a great start! Talon island huh? Since it's on this half maybe during the two years I can-) Her smile starts to fade as she securely places it back in the book then grabs her star chart and goes back to her telescope for some stargazing.

After managing to draw down a few more constellations she grumbles in frustration then places the chart on the desk then starts pacing around the room while staying quiet to avoid Luffy checking up on her. (This has been keeping me up for nights! I have to come to a decision about what I'm gonna do about Ace tonight! I already made up my mind about Sabaody Archipelago; I have to let it happen! I don't want us to separate but it's the best way for them to get stronger… Whatever happens I can't prevent Kizaru and Kuma's attack.)

She sighs as she rubs the back on her neck then slumps in her chair while holding onto her necklace with her other hand.

(Ace is a great person. He treasures the people close to him and would do anything to protect them… I don't want him to die, he doesn't deserve it. But, if I do save him who knows what repercussions would happen? So far I've been lucky and didn't cause any major changes but if I do this… Not only that though Luffy grows from the experience and agrees with Rayleigh to learn how to use Haki because of-) She scrambles her hair in frustration. (WHAT THE HELL AM I THINKING?! THIS IS SOMEONE'S LIFE HERE! IT'S RIDICULOUS THAT SOMEONE YOU LOVE HAS TO DIE IN ORDER TO GET STRONGER!) She sighs as she rubs her head in frustration then accidentally starts yawning.

She shakes her head to try to keep awake but the exhaustion from staying up these past few nights started catching up to her. (Damnit no! Any night but tonight!)

Rose tries to get up but her legs give out as she falls asleep on the desk.

* * *

 **(A/N: warning has mild gore and sadness. Scroll past until the lettering is no longer italicized if you don't wish to read.)**

 _2:00am on September 1st in New York 10 year old Rose was asleep in her bed until she started hearing crashes._

 _(What the-?) Rose slowly got up and as the crashes got louder she started to become fully awake. (What's going on?!) Rose jumps out of the bed when Teresa runs into the room and picks her up._

 _"_ _Mom, what's happening?!" Rose asks as Teresa opens the window to the fire escape._

 _"_ _Rose, listen to me! I need you to take this phone and call the police."_

 _Rose widens her eyes in shock as she takes the phone from her mom. "What? What's going on?! Where's dad?!"_

 _Teresa places her on out on the fire escape and gets ready to close the window. "He's taking care of the burglars. I'm gonna go help him."_

 _"_ _What?! I gotta help too!" She tries to go back in but Teresa doesn't let her._

 _"_ _No Rose! You need to call the police. Also, you have a more important job right there!" She points to Roses necklace causing her to look down at it. "This necklace we gave you last week is a very important treasure. I need you to protect that necklace for us. Please do what I say. Everything's gonna be fine." Teresa smiles as she quickly closes the window before Rose can get in and closes the curtains._

 _"_ _MOM! STOP IT! LET ME IN!" She tries to open the window but it won't budge. She uses the phone to call the police. "Hello, there are burglars at my house!" She tells them the address when she keeps hearing crashes._

 _(Maybe I can get in from the other window.) She hangs up the phone and runs to the next window where the curtain's almost closed all the way._

 _She can see Teresa and Joe fighting off three men dressed in black wearing black ski masks._

 _"_ _GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!" Joe yells as he fights off two of them while Teresa faces the other._

 _The leader of the group: Sam kicks Joe in the gut knocking the wind out of him while he throws him across the room._

 _"_ _JOE!" Teresa kicks a guy in the family jewels then knocks him over to the others as she runs over to Joe._

 _"_ _You two are a lot more trouble than your worth. If you two would just stay asleep while we grabbed your stuff then none of this would be happening." Sam says as the men recover and surround them._

 _Rose stares at the scene while her body's shaking in fear and her throat tightens. She tries to scream but nothing would come out. (Why won't my voice won't come out?!)_

 _Rose moves her trembling arms as she tries to open the window and tries to scream but nothing comes out. (MOM! DAD! GET OUT OF THERE! WHERE ARE THE COPS?!)_

 _She runs to the side of the fire escape facing the street to see if the cops have arrived but they haven't shown up yet. She runs back to the window but freezes when she hears gunshots fired. (MOM! DAD!) She runs to the window to find the burglars watching her parents collapse after being shot in the chest._

 _"_ _What pains. I was hoping there wouldn't be any bloodshed this time. Come on boys, let's search the place before the cops show up." Sam puts the gun away and searches the house with the two lackeys._

 _Rose watched the burglars leave the room completely frozen until tears start streaming down her face then she starts banging the window. (MOM! DAD! GET UP! DON'T JUST LAY THERE!)_ _She tries screaming, but her voice keeps failing while she doesn't take her purple eyes off her parents' non moving bodies as their blood keeps spilling out of their bullet wounds._

 _She keeps trying to open the window when she hears a crash and sees flames from the other room then hears Sam shouting. "KEVIN YOU IDIOT! WHY DID YOU SET THE PLACE ON FIRE?!"_

 _"_ _IT WAS AN ACCIDENT BOSS!" Kevin yells._

 _"_ _LET'S JUST GET OUT OF HERE! These guys didn't have much but some stupid mumbo jumbo about other worlds. Better used for the fire."_

 _(The research! Forget that, I gotta get to mom and dad!) Rose tries going in from another window but none of them are budging. She freezes when she hears a window open._

 _Sam opens the window and starts heading out. "Let's get out of here before the fire gets worse! Huh?" He looks around the fire escape to see that no one was there. (Must've imagined it.)_

 _Rose climbed down the fire escape and hid behind some trash cans in the alleyway then watched the burglars get down from the fire escape and run as the police and fire department arrive. (Damnit, my body acted on its own! I-I couldn't help them... Mom... Dad...) She held onto her necklace and couldn't stop crying as some of the cops found her and brought her to safety while the fire department took care of the fire and her dead parents._

* * *

Luffy climbs back up to the crow's nest near the brink of dawn after stealing food from the kitchen. He looks out at the horizon for a second then sighs.

"I'm bored." He turns to the hatch of the observatory. (Rose stayed up there all night. I wonder if she fell asleep while working.) He walks up to the hatch of the observatory but once he puts his head in the room he was met with a book to his face.

"OW! WHAT'D YOU-" He cuts himself off as he jumps into the room to dodge another flying book. He looks to see Rose asleep on her desk with a wind barrier surrounding her and sending the books around her flying.

"ROSE! HEY! WAKE UP!" He dodges the flying objects as they flew around the room as he gets closer to the wind barrier. When he makes it up to the barrier he sees her trembling in her sleep. "ROSE CAN YOU HEAR ME?! SNAP OUT OF IT!"

She doesn't respond causing Luffy to force himself through the barrier.

"Mom… Dad… Get out of there… Please get up…" Luffy widens his eyes in shock as he hears Rose talk in her sleep with tears starting to stream down her face.

"Rose, hey. Come on wake up." He grabs her shoulders gently and tries to wake her up but it doesn't work. ("Kissing works to wake her up in a regular night's sleep or a nightmare.") Luffy follows Nami's advice as he embraces her and kisses her on the lips to wake her up.

The wind barrier disappeared as she woke up in a jolt and accidentally turned her whole body into wind in order to get out of his embrace. She grabs onto the bookshelf for support as she pants for air and keeps her back to him while trying to get rid of the blush. "Luffy, we really gotta talk about this whole- What the hell happened in here?" She looked around the room in shock to see all of the books scattered everywhere and the telescope knocked to the ground.

Luffy walks up to her. "You don't remember? You set up a wind barrier around you in your sleep and sent your stuff everywhere."

She turned to him in shock. "I did what?! I didn't send you flying did I?"

He shook his head. "No, but you sent a book flying at me."

"Sorry about that… I better get this cleaned up." She starts turning to pick the stuff up but Luffy walks in front of her.

"Hold on, are you ok? You sounded like you had a really bad nightmare."

She nods with a weak grin. "Yea, I'm fine. I'm used to that nightmare."

He tilts his head in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"Well, that nightmare happens every year."

"What? Why does that happen?"

She looks to the side to avoid his gaze. "That's not important. Thanks for waking me up."

"Anytime, but are you really ok? You were-"

"It's fine already! Just drop it!" Rose snaps back at him causing him to flinch. She calms down then sighs as she turns her back to him and starts picking up the books. "Sorry, I promise I'll be ok. I really do need to clean this up. You should get back to the crow's nest too before Nami finds out you've been skipping out on night watch."

Luffy hesitates before walking back to the hatch. While Rose was cleaning up he gives one last look at her before closing the door.

Once she heard the door close she fell to her knees and grabs her necklace while trembling. (I swear that nightmare gets stronger every year… I can't believe I forgot to account for my devil fruit! Damnit, now Luffy's worried… At least one good thing came from this year's nightmare. I've decided what I'm going to do for Marineford. I'm going to save him. I don't care what repercussions happen I'll take responsibility for it! Ace doesn't deserve to die and his family doesn't deserve the pain of losing him after going so far to try to save him. I'll talk to Luffy after the war and convince him to train with Rayleigh.)

She nods to herself as she takes a deep breath then gets up and cleans everything up.

* * *

The crew starts getting into the dining hall for breakfast except Rose.

Sanji looks around and stops handing out breakfast when he finds her missing. "Where's Rose-chan?"

Rose rushes in the room in the hurry with a smile. "Morning guys, sorry i'm late. Had some things to take care of." She sits down with a weak smile on her face as the others start eating.

The crew ate normally while guarding their food from their thieving captain. Rose keeps her weak grin while keeping her focus on her food as she quietly eats.

Luffy keeps stealing glances at Rose as he tries to take the others' food but never touches hers. (… She's not herself. That nightmare really messed her up. Why do I feel bad all of a sudden?)

The crew finished eating and everyone but Sanji started leaving the kitchen.

(If I'm going to Marineford I'd better work on my logia abilities.) Rose starts flying when the others called out to her.

"Hey Rose, where are you going?" Usopp says.

"I'm gonna go practice my devil fruit abilities. It's too dangerous to practice on the ship so I'm gonna practice above the clouds."

"Don't overdo it!" Chopper says causing her to nod with small grin.

"I won't. I'll see you guys in a bit." She waves them off as she flies up in the air not noticing Luffy's eyes following her until she's out of his sights.

"Something wrong captain?" He turns to see Robin looking at him with an unchanging grin.

"Hey Robin, I wanna ask you something. Does Rose ever use her wind in her sleep?"

Robin quirks an eyebrow at this. "Well, she does create a breeze once in a while but nothing crazy. Lately however she hasn't been sleeping a lot. In the middle of the night she would sneak off into the observatory. Why do you ask?"

He shifts his eyes everywhere. "N-nothing… Thanks Robin." He walks away leaving Robin to chuckle at his reaction then head to the library.

(She wouldn't want me to tell the others. Still…) Luffy looks up at the clouds she's practicing above. (She's always there to cheer me up when I'm down. I wanna do the same for her.) He goes inside the ship to find Nami but when he reaches the door to her office he found a note on it.

 **If there isn't a storm or enemies approaching DO NOT BOTHER ME OR I WILL FINE YOU 1 BILLION BELI!**

Luffy gulps at the note then quietly walks away from the door and back onto the deck to find Zoro sleeping on the deck. (Zoro sleeps a lot. Maybe he'll know what to do.)

Luffy walks up to Zoro and sits next to him then pokes him to the side of the head but he doesn't respond. Luffy pokes him again but he turns his back to him.

(Just ignore him. He'll get bored eventually.) Zoro tries his best to stay asleep but Luffy's constant poking causes him to twitch an eye in irritation then turns to him in irritation. "ALRIGHT! WHAT IS IT?!"

"What do you do to cheer yourself up?" Luffy says blankly.

Zoro looks at him in confusion. "What the hell are you going on about?"

"If you have a bad dream from your naps how do you make yourself feel better?"

"I drink some sake. Now can I go back to sleep?"

Luffy nods with a toothy grin as he makes his way to the kitchen. "Thanks Zoro."

(Did he have a nightmare? Looks fine to me. Oh well.) Zoro shrugs his shoulders then falls back asleep.

* * *

Luffy looks into the kitchen to find Sanji working on lunch. (How am I gonna get past Sanji?) He turns to see Usopp and Chopper walking up to him.

"What are you doing Luffy? Sanji won't be happy if you try to steal food again." Usopp says.

Luffy shakes his head. "I'm not planning to steal food."

Both of them look at him in shock then Chopper goes to heavy point to feel his forehead. "You don't have a fever. Are you feeling alright?"

Luffy pushes Chopper's hand away. "I'm fine! Yeesh, I just need to get some sake from the kitchen."

Usopp looks at him in confusion. "Now I know something's wrong with you. What do you need sake for?"

Luffy averts their gaze. "It's a secret! Can you guys help?"

Both of them look at him blankly. "No way."

"Come on! I'd help you guys out!" Luffy whines.

"We're not helping unless you tell us what you need it for!" Usopp says as he crosses his arms over his chest.

Chopper nods in agreement as he goes back to brain point and copies Usopp's motions. "If we're risking our lives we should know!"

Luffy huffs in frustration. "Fine, I need it for Rose."

Chopper looks at him in confusion while Usopp snickers then pats him on the back. "Ohoho! So it's for Rose huh? Glad to see you're finally making a move! But wouldn't you want something like wine instead?"

He looks at him in confusion. "What move? Why would I need wine? It needs to be sake."

Usopp sighs in exasperation. "You really are clueless. Are you sure you want to do this? Then again, Rose isn't like most girls so maybe sake could work. In any case, I'll help get Sanji out of the kitchen. You two just stay out of the doorway."

Both guys nod as they steer clear of the doorway.

Usopp walks into the kitchen casually while whistling. Ten seconds later Sanji slams the door open angrily.

"WHERE ARE YOU MOSS HEAD?! HOW DARE YOU CALL ME A CURLY BROWED BEAN POLE IN A MONKEY SUIT IN FRONT OF THE GIRLS?!" Sanji spots Zoro and immediately kicks him on the head.

Zoro recovers and gets up in irritation with his hands on his katanas. "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?! I'VE HAD ENOUGH OF PEOPLE WAKING ME UP FOR STUPID SHIT!" Zoro and Sanji got into a leg and sword brawl while Luffy and Chopper cautiously walk into the kitchen.

"That was awesome Usopp!" Chopper says while Usopp smirks with pride.

"Leave it to Captain Usopp to get the job done! Luffy, you got the-"

Luffy eats some meat from the fridge then goes to the liquor cabinet. "Which one'll work?"

Both of them look at him in shock. "YOU WANTED TO COME IN WITHOUT KNOWING WHICH ONE TO GRAB?!"

"I DON'T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT SAKE!"

"Funny, I didn't take you three for sake drinkers." All three of them freeze as they turn to the doorway to find Sanji lighting his cigarette with a dark aura surrounding him. The trio freeze in fear as Sanji walks up to them menacingly. "Before I send you three flying I'm curious. What do you want sake for?"

Chopper huddles with Usopp. "Luffy wanted to give it to Rose!"

Sanji froze then twitches an eyebrow in irritation as he starts flaming up and growling. "You were going to give a beautiful maiden like Rose something like sake as a gift?!" He grabs a nearby frying pan then mercilessly whacks three of them on the head then sends them flying out of the kitchen with a kick. "YOU DON'T GIVE A GIRL SAKE MORON! YOU GIVE THEM SOMETHING SWEET!" He slams the door shut while the three of them get up and massage their aching heads.

"Well that didn't work. Sanji did have a point though Luffy. Rose likes sweet things." Usopp says while Chopper nods.

Luffy looks at them in confusion. "But what about sweet sake?"

Chopper looks at him in excitement. "There's sweet sake?!"

Usopp nods then strokes his chin in thought. "That might work, but we don't have any-"

"SAKE! GET YOUR SAKE HERE!" All three of them turn to the side of the boat to see a skinny dark haired man in his 30's with huge glasses on a small boat full of sake.

"Whoa, talk about your luck. Where's Zoro? He'd love this." Usopp looks around to see that it's just the three of them on the deck as Luffy grabs the salesman and pulls him onboard with his merchandise.

The man bows to the three of them. "How do you do? My name's Taro. I'm a travelling sake salesman."

Luffy nods. "I'm Luffy. Do you have any sweet sake?"

Taro eagerly nods as he looks through his merchandise with excitement. (Hahaha! Finally someone that appreciates sweet sake!) He grabs a pink sake bottle, holds it up close to his glasses to make sure it's the right one then turns to the trio. "I have just the sake for you. This Kijoshu sake is the best that they come and has amazing sweetness! I guarantee not only will you feel great but you'll feel like a new person!"

The three of them look at him with excitement.

"I'll take it! How much?!" Luffy says.

"For an appreciator of sweetness, I'll cut my usual price to 3 thousand beli!"

Usopp looks at him in shock "Wow, that's a good price."

Taro smiles then looks downcast. "I rarely have anyone want sweet sake, so it's depressing. Sweet sake is more potent than wine and gives a real taste but it's underappreciated! I can't tell how many people only want the regular stuff…"

Luffy nods with a grin. "Don't worry; your sake will be put to good use! Thanks for your help." He hands him the money and takes the bottle then helps Taro back onto his boat along with the merchandise.

"I HOPE WE MEET AGAIN FELLOW TRAVELERS!" He yells as he waves them off and sails out of their sights.

Once he's safely away from the Sunny Taro grabs a bottle of sweet sake to drink. (Those were some nice kids. I hope they enjoy it. Can't hurt to enjoy myself with a bottle.)

Taro opens the bottle and gets ready to drink it but stops himself when he smells it and realizes that's the real Kijoshu sake. "OH CRAP, I MISLABELLED THE PRODUCTS AGAIN! I REALLY NEED NEW GLASSES! Wait, if this is here then what did I give-?!" He cuts himself off as he realizes which sake he actually gave them and runs a hand through his hair in frustration. "I can't believe I gave them _that_ sake! Why didn't I just flush it?!" He turns the boat around to get back to the Sunny. "I hope I'm not too late!"

* * *

(I can do this! I just did it this morning.) Rose works to focus on turning her body into wind but only managed to turn her lower half into wind for a moment.

She clenches her teeth in frustration. (DAMNIT! Come on already!) Rose launches a twister punch into the air to calm herself down. (No point in making myself more irritated. I just gotta remember how it felt…) Rose focused to remember what it felt like when she turned her whole body into wind. Suddenly she felt as if she was flowing like the wind as she flew a few feet ahead as a gust of wind. When she stopped she immediately turned her body back to normal.

After a few practice rounds of turning her body into wind she nods in satisfaction. (Alright! About time I got the hang of it! I've been grabbed way too many times!) She sighs in exasperation as she remembers the times she might have escaped with her logia abilities but couldn't.

(I really stink as a logia user. Still though, I'm a lot better than at the beginning. Hehe, I've come a long way. I bet mom and dad would've-) She cuts herself off then shakes her head to clear it then gets back to practicing.

"ROSE! COME DOWN!" Luffy yells causing Rose to look down in confusion.

(I wonder what's up. I hope he's not still worried.) Rose lands back onto the deck to see Luffy grinning at her while hiding the bottle behind his back.

"Come on Chopper let's go inside." Usopp says as he leads Chopper inside.

Chopper looks at him in confusion. "Huh? Why can't we watch?"

"I'll tell you when you're older." Usopp says as he brings him inside.

Rose quirks an eyebrow at their behavior then turns to Luffy. "Ok, I'll bite. What's up?"

Luffy takes the bottle from behind his back and hands it to her. "Here, it's sweet sake. It's something to help you with your nightmares."

Rose takes the bottle in shock. (Luffy…) "Th-thanks. Hey, how about we share it?"

Luffy shakes his head as he crosses his arms over his chest. "No way, it's yours. Go ahead and drink it."

Rose nods with a soft grin as she works to open it. "Thanks, I'm sorry again for snapping at you this morning."

He shakes his head. "Don't be, I shouldn't have pressed. As long as you feel better from this I'm happy."

She lightly blushes from his words then manages to open it and takes a swig. She happily sighs while closing it. (This is pretty good. He must've been worried all day… Maybe I should tell- *THROB* What-) She places a hand on her head as her head starts getting fuzzy and her vision starts to double then her legs start to give as she passes out.

"Rose, hey!" A puff of smoke forms around her just before Luffy catches her. When the smoke faded Luffy finds a sleeping 12 year old Rose just a few inches taller than Chopper in his arms wearing clothes too big for her.

Luffy looks at the sleeping child in shock. "CHOPPER!"

TO BE CONTINUED


	18. Chapter 18

"Now then Luffy, let me get this straight. You bought a random bottle of sweet sake from a stranger and when Rose drank it she turned into a kid? And you Usopp, watched this happening and didn't stop him?" Nami asks as she whacks Luffy and Usopp on the head while the others watch Chopper examine the sleeping kid after Robin changed her into Choppers Alabasta clothes.

Franky turns to Luffy. "Why did you give her sake anyway?"

"Wait, you mean Rose was the one with the nightmare?" Zoro asks causing the group to turn to him.

"You know something about this Zoro-san?" Brook asks causing Zoro to nod.

"Luffy was bothering me about what I do if I had a nightmare and I told him that I use sake."

Nami turns to glare at Luffy. "Why didn't you tell me about this Luffy?"

Luffy raises his hands defensively. "You're the first one I went to for advice, but the note said not to bother you!"

"IF IT HAD TO DO WITH YOU AND ROSE I DON'T CARE YOU IDIOT!" Nami whacked him for about the fifth time today causing Robin to place a hand on her shoulder.

"I wouldn't be yelling if I were you. We shouldn't wake her."

Nami nods in agreement "You're right, she needs as much sleep as she can get."

Usopp looks at them in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"Ever since we left Thriller Bark Rose hasn't been getting that much sleep. The best night was probably 4 hours…" Robin says.

"Could it all be nightmares? Or maybe some bad visions?" Sanji asks

Robin shakes her head. "I don't think it's about her 'visions'. They don't happen when she's asleep."

Luffy looks at Rose sadly. "When I woke her up from her nightmare this morning she said that her nightmare happened every year…"

Nami looks at him in surprise then looks at her sadly. "That explains why she wanted night watch last night… She must've been scared of it coming early…"

Chopper turns to the group. "Roses vitals seem normal. She looks like she's around 12. I don't know if I can reverse this but-"

"HELLO! LUFFY! USOPP! CHOPPER! ARE YOU GUYS THERE?!" The trio widens their eyes as they hear Taro's voice.

Luffy clenches his fists in rage as he runs outside with the rest of the crew following. Once they reach the deck they look to see Luffy pull Taro up to the deck then slam him to the wall in rage.

"WHAT KIND OF SAKE DID YOU GIVE US?! HOW CAN WE FIX ROSE?!"

Taro looks at him in shock. "You mean I'm too late?! I'M SO SORRY! I ACCIDENTALY MISLABELLED MY SAKE AND GAVE YOU AGE SAKE INSTEAD!"

Zoro looks at him in confusion. "Age sake?"

Taro quickly nods. "Yea, it's a special sake that can randomly change a person's age when drinking it."

"Is there a remedy for this?" Robin asks.

He shakes his head. "No, but your friend didn't drink the whole bottle right?! As long as she didn't drink the whole thing it shouldn't be permanent!"

Luffy looks at him in surprise but kept his glare. "How long will it last if she only took a mouthful of it?"

"If it was just a mouthful the effects should only last until tonight, tomorrow morning the latest. I'll give you a full refund and another sake for free as an apology."

"No thanks on your sake. We'd rather not get accidentally poisoned." Sanji says.

"I'm willing to take the refund though." Nami says causing Taro to nod and hand her the 3 thousand beli.

"Again, I'm really sorry about this. I always mislabel them because of these glasses. On my next island I'm going to get them fixed. I'll tell you what I know about the age sake. Did your friend get older or younger?"

"She got younger." Chopper says causing him to nod.

"She shouldn't be alone then. When the sake makes someone younger they temporarily lose the memories they had after that age until they're back to normal. Also, the drinker still keeps their devil fruit powers if they have any whether older or younger. You guys can keep the sake as an apology gift. Maybe you can find it useful. Again, I'm really sorry…" Taro jumps off the ship and back to his boat then sails away while the nine of them sigh in exasperation.

"So we have a 12 year old devil fruit user who has no idea who we are…" Zoro puts a hand to his face in frustration.

"I'm gonna make sure she's ok." Luffy says as he heads back to the infirmary.

* * *

Rose slowly wakes up then looks around in shock to find herself not in her foster home anymore. "What the hell?! Where am I?!" She looks down to find herself in purple shorts, a white loose shirt and her necklace still intact. (I'm glad I didn't lose this. Am I in a hospital? Something's not right!) She gets out of the bed when she hears footsteps. (I better hide. If it's a doctor then maybe I'll come out!) She looks around to find an empty barrel and hides inside it.

Luffy walks into the room and immediately starts to panic as he searches the room for her. "Oh crap! Where is she?!"

Rose watches the scrambling boy curiously from the peephole in the barrel. (A boy? Where have I seen him before? This place is definitely not a hospital!)

Luffy runs out the room in a panic. "GUYS! SHE'S GONE!"

Rose peeks out of the barrel when the coast is clear. (I gotta see what I'm up against.) She looks at the room and finds her staff. (I'd better take this.) She grabs her staff then sneaks into another room to find herself in Nami's map room.

(Perfect, I can find out where I am!) Rose walks up to the table to find one of the maps that she's working on. (The Grand Line? Never heard of that place before. There's not even a showing of any of the continents on this map! This is weird... Wait, could I be in-?)

Rose hears voices outside the door and hides behind the door as it slams open.

"I don't understand where she could have gone! Rose, come out if you're hiding. We're not gonna hurt you." Nami says as she searches the room along with Robin while Rose stays hidden behind the open door.

("Not gonna hurt me." That's what they all say. Weird though, how do they know my name?) Rose watches curiously from behind the door as Nami turns to Robin.

"Robin, can you see if you can find her with your devil fruit powers?"

Robin nods as she closes her eyes and sprouted eyes aboard the ship including the room.

Rose covers her mouth with her free hand to make sure she doesn't scream while widening her eyes in shock as she stays hidden and avoids the eyes surveillance. (HOLY SHIT! WHAT THE HELL AM I DEALING WITH?! NOW I KNOW I'M NOT IN MY WORLD ANYMORE! I don't understand, I don't remember seeing the comet. I can figure that out later. I gotta know what kind of universe I'm in and who these guys are!)

Robin cancels out the eyes and shakes her head in disappointment. "Sorry, I couldn't find her. I hope she didn't fall overboard."

Nami turns to her. "Don't say that. I doubt it anyway Sanji and Brook are on the deck in case she does make it out there. Let's check the bedrooms."

Robin nods as the two of them leave the room and close the door behind them.

Rose sighs in relief. (So there are guys waiting for me on the deck. Wait "deck"?) She looks out the window to check the horizon. (Aw crap, I'm stuck on a ship! Well, worst case scenario if these guys can't be trusted I can lay low until they reach the next island then sneak out and start a living. I should find a better place to hide though.)

She nods to herself as she quietly checks the hall for anyone. When the coast is clear she sneaks in the hallway and stops in front of a door that says "Usopp's Workshop." (Maybe I can hide in here.)

Rose quietly looks inside to find the room empty then walks inside to look around the workshop. (Interesting stuff. What's this?) She picks up a flash dial and accidentally flashes it in front of her eyes. (CRAP!) She moves back while rubbing her eyes and accidentally hits the table holding rope that smells like garlic. (What the?! Why does it smell like garlic?! Actually, it smells pretty good.) She enjoys the smell when she hears footsteps approaching. She grabs the dial and hides in one of the weapons cabinets then cracks the door open to see Usopp, Franky and Chopper walking in.

(THESE PEOPLE JUST GET WEIRDER BY THE SECOND!) She looks at them in shock as they search the room.

"I definitely heard something in here. Deer-Gorilla, couldn't you pick up Freckles' scent?" Franky asks.

Chopper turns to him in anger. "I'M NOT A BLOODHOUND! Even if I could pick up her scent it would be masked by this gross garlic smell. Yuck!"

Usopp turns to them as he searches the cabinets. "My bad, that's my special skunk rope! As soon as I get the launcher ready I plan on getting the enemies in a net that not only traps them but tortures them with the smell! Let's just keep searching the room."

She peeks out of the door in confusion. (Skunk rope? He should've picked a worse smell. Garlic smells great. Is the speedo man referring to me as Freckles? In any case I'm lucky Deer-Gorilla couldn't pick up my scent. I better prepare myself.) She grips her staff in one hand while holding the flash dial with the other. (If one of them opens the door I'll-)

Usopp opens the door causing Rose to activate the flash dial and blind him. "WAAAH!"

He steps back as he covers his eyes then Rose kicked him on the nose as she jumped out of the cabinet and started running.

"HOLD ON FRECKLES!" Franky stretches his right arm to grab her but she dodged his arm with bug eyes.

"WHOA! WHAT THE HELL?!" She runs to the door but Chopper goes into heavy point to block the door. (HOLY CRAP! HE REALLY IS A DEER-GORILLA!) She uses her staff to hit him but he dodges and tries to grab her but his hands go through her.

"What the-" Rose starts flying through Chopper and goes through the door to make a break for it with the three of them in pursuit. (HOLY SHIT! THIS IS KIND OF AWESOME BUT TERRIFYING AT THE SAME TIME! I can fly?! What happened to me?! I'm not a ghost am I?!)

"GUYS! WE FOUND HER!" Usopp yells as Zoro and Luffy head out the door ahead of them.

"Hold it right there!" Zoro goes to grab her but she makes him go through her and tries to hit him with her staff but misses and accidentally creates a gust to send him flying at the trio.

She dodges Luffy as he tries to grab her. Before Luffy can react Rose hits him in the face with a twister punch and sends him flying before she flew away. (What the? Can I manipulate the wind? WHOA! I'm like Kazuma from Kaze No Stigma! Hold on, the green haired dude and the straw hat guy from before look familiar. Damnit, what the hell's going on here?!)

She flies onto the deck to find Sanji running to her. "Hold on Rose-chan! Take it easy!"

She glares at him as she uses her wind to slam his back to the mast then points her staff to his chest. "How do you know my name?" The guys along with Nami and Robin make it up to the deck and surround her.

"Just calm down Rose. We're your friends." Nami says as she tries to walk up to her but Rose glares at her as she points her staff to Nami causing her to stop.

"Don't move. I want answers. Who the hell are-" She cuts herself off as she looks up in shock to see the Straw Hats Jolly Roger on the sail. (You gotta be freaking kidding me! I'm in the One Piece world?! The ONE anime that I didn't look into yet!)

She clenches her staff while the others follow her gaze and realize she's looking at the sail.

"Yes we're pirates, but don't worry we're not gonna hurt you. Actually, you're a part of the crew." Usopp says causing her to turn to him in confusion.

"What are you talking about?"

"You've been a part of the crew for over a month now." Robin says while Rose keeps her guard up.

"Then why don't I remember it?"

"You drank some sake that turned you into a kid." Zoro says causing her to look at them in disbelief.

"That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard." (Then again, I heard One Piece was nuts so it might be possible.) She looks at them skeptically while keeping her guard up. "I'm gonna need some proof before I believe you guys."

Luffy looks at her in confusion. "Like what?"

Rose tilts her head in thought. "How about saying some things that you know about me."

Luffy nods. "You love the stars and aim for the nose a lot when you fight."

"You didn't know how to fish until you joined the crew." Chopper says.

"You're studying a comet called the Timore Comet." Franky says.

"You're psychic." Robin says.

Rose quirks an eyebrow at her. (Psychic? What is she talking about? Is that a cover I made to hide the fact that I'm from another world? In any case besides that it looks like they check out.)

Brook walks up behind her while she was in thought. "You also sing like an angel and play the guitar beautifully."

Rose turns around then drops her staff in shock as she looks up at Brook with eyes as wide as plates and her mouth hung open.

(Oh crap! She's scared!) The crew looks at her with worry until she starts smiling at him with stars in her eyes.

"Wow, a skeleton?! That's so cool! What's your name? Is that a wig or your real hair?"

"My name is Brook. Yes, this is my real hair."

She politely bows to him. "That's awesome. Nice to meet you."

The rest of the crew but Robin face plants on the ground while they exchanged greetings then yell out in disbelief. "YOU LET YOUR GUARD DOWN WITH THE SKELETON?!"

She turns back to the group in confusion. "What do you mean? He's not scary. Anyway, I believe you guys now. How old am I normally? And how is it that I can fly and launch twister punches?"

"You're normally 17 and you ate a devil fruit that turned your body into wind." Chopper says.

Rose looks at him in confusion. "What are devil fruits Deer-Gorilla?"

"Devil fruits are fruits that give you a special power in exchange for your ability to swim after you eat them. All devil fruits are- MY NAME'S NOT DEER-GORILLA!"

She flinches. "S-sorry! The speedo man called you that so I thought it was your name."

Franky looks at her in confusion. "Speedo man? You mean me?"

She nods. "Sorry, I don't know your names."

Luffy nods as he steps up. "I'm Luffy. I'm gonna be king of the pirates! I ate a devil fruit that turned my body into rubber." He stretches his cheek to show her causing her to laugh.

(Looks like she hasn't read about this world yet. She didn't question me telling her that she's psychic so I hope she took the hint. This will be interesting.) Robin smiles as she steps forward. "I'm Robin. I ate a devil fruit that allows me to grow my limbs out of anywhere." She demonstrates by growing an arm out of the deck next to Rose causing her to jump in shock.

(Don't make the "handy" pun. Don't make the "handy" pun.) "Whoa, that explains the eyes."

Robin widens her eyes in shock. "You saw them?"

She nods. "Yea, I managed to hide before you saw me though."

Zoro nods with a smirk. "Not bad kid, I'm Zoro and this idiot love cook is Sanji."

"DON'T GO STEALING MY INTRODUCTION MOSS HEAD!" Sanji and Zoro go into a leg and sword clash.

Rose sweat drops as she watches them fight. "I take it that's normal?"

Usopp nods. "Yea, those two are idiots, but I always manage to stop them before it gets rough. I'm the brave warrior of the sea Usopp!"

(Why do I get the feeling he's lying? Oh well.) "You were the one that made the skunk rope right?"

He nods "That's right. Sorry if the smell was more than you could handle."

She shakes her head with a smile. "Actually, it smelled pretty good. I love garlic."

Usopp slumps in depression. "Glad you liked it…"

She looks at him in worry. "Umm, I'm sorry. I can suggest worse smells for you if you want."

Usopp nods while Franky chuckles at her reaction. "You're a good kid Freckles. I'm your SUPER big bro Franky! Sorry for scaring you with my arm back there. I'm a cyborg."

Rose looks at him in excitement as he gets in his signature pose. "Really?! That's awesome!"

Nami giggles at her excitement. "You're as excited as ever. I'm Nami and I'm the navigator."

"Nice to meet you."

Chopper looks at the ground nervously and shuffles his feet on the ground. "U-umm I'm Chopper. I'm sorry for scaring you too. I'm a reindeer that ate a devil fruit that allows me to turn into a human."

She sheepishly waves at him. "Nice to meet you Chopper. Sorry for trying to hit you. I gotta say that's a cool devil fruit."

"Stupid! I'm not happy at all by the compliment! Heehee!" Chopper gets into a happy dance causing her to sweat drop before giggling.

(I can see why my older self likes these guys. Looks like I made a real mess though…) Rose rubs the back of her neck sheepishly before bowing her head. "I'm sorry for attacking you guys…"

Sanji walks up to her and ruffles her hair. "Don't worry about it Rose-chan. We shouldn't have left you alone in the infirmary. You must be hungry. I finished making lunch before the whole mess happened, so let's get going."

He goes to pick her up but she whacks him on the face to stop him. "I can walk by myself thank you!"

The others laughed while Sanji slumps in depression as she walked ahead with Brook showing her the way.

"About time someone besides me did that." Zoro says as he recovers.

"This is going to be an interesting day." Robin says with all of them agreeing as they head to the dining hall.

* * *

The crew enjoys their food with Rose enjoying every bite of it. (This is great!)

Sanji chuckles at her excitement. "Don't worry there's plenty of it."

Rose nods with a happy smile. "Thank you."

Usopp sighs as he rubs his aching nose where Rose kicked him. "I have to say, you're even more of a scrapper as a kid. What's with you and aiming for the nose anyway?"

She nervously chuckles while rubbing the back of her head. "I never dropped the habit huh? Sorry about that Usopp. My dad taught me to try to aim for the nose when fighting."

Franky looks at her curiously. "Why at the nose?"

She looks down embarrassed. "He said people are like sharks meaning that when you hit them in the nose they go running…"

The others blink for a moment before laughing.

"Oh man, your dad's pretty funny!" Luffy says as he keeps laughing.

She looks away embarrassed. "I know it's not true but I got stuck with the habit of aiming for the nose. It's still pretty useful when fighting. Am I still a good fighter when I'm older?"

Zoro nods. "At first you sucked as a devil fruit user and still have times when you mess up but you're not bad in a fight."

Rose nods in approval. "Glad to hear I didn't grow soft. I take it when I first came on board things were nuts for you guys?"

Nami sighs. "If you think you were bad today try having someone just fly onto the ship and sneak into the infirmary. Afterwards, our swordsman here thought it was a good idea to get into a high speed chase with you."

Zoro groans at the memory while Robin giggles. "Hard to forget that day."

Rose laughs at the story. "That must've been nuts." (Hold on, flew here? Looks like it's true that the older me never told them. I better stay quiet too.)

"You seem to be taking turning into a kid pretty well Rose-san." Brook says causing her to turn to him.

"Well, I can't remember my older self so I find it more shocking being on a pirate ship. By the way, how exactly did I turn into a kid? You guys said something about sake?"

Luffy looks at her sadly then turns away. "I'm sorry, it's my fault. I wanted to cheer you up by giving you sweet sake but the sales guy mixed the bottles and gave me age sake..."

(Cheer me up?) She looks at him blankly for a moment before giggling causing them to look at her confused. "Hehe, so that's what happened. Don't worry about it captain this has definitely cheered me up. I'm sure I'll be laughing at this when I'm back to normal. This is temporary right?"

Chopper nods. "Yea, the salesman said that you should be back to normal by tonight or tomorrow."

She nods with a grin. "Good to know, until then please bear with me."

Luffy blinks in surprise before grinning. "Not a problem. Come on, let's go play."

"Yea!" Rose ran out with Luffy along with Chopper and Usopp.

Franky chuckles as they left. "That's definitely Freckles."

Robin nods in agreement. (She hasn't mentioned being from another world once. Seems she understood the situation. Smart girl.) "I think it's best if we don't bring up what today is."

Sanji nods in agreement. "I agree, no need to upset her."

The others nod in agreement as they start leaving the dining hall.

* * *

"So it's like this?" Rose copies Usopp's cast as the four of them went fishing.

Usopp nods in approval. "Yea good job. Now don't get discouraged if you can't get it at your first try. At my fifth try I caught a giant coy fish and gave it to-"

"USOPP! I THINK I CAUGHT SOMETHING!" Rose yells as she tries to reel it in causing the three of them to look at her in shock.

"AGAIN?! WHAT'S WITH YOU AND FISHING?!" Usopp yells.

"HOW SHOULD I KNOW?! I DON'T REMEMBER FISHING BEFORE!" Rose works to reel it in but the fish was too strong causing her to start falling with the pole but Luffy quickly wraps his arms around her while Chopper helps her reel it in with Heavy Point.

"Don't let go of the pole Rose!" Luffy says as he makes sure she doesn't fall.

Rose struggles to hold the pole while hiding her blush from getting hugged. "R-right!"

The three of them pulled together while Usopp got the net ready and caught the giant barracuda that went flying at them then started snapping at them through the net.

"WAAAH! IT'S GONNA EAT ME!" Usopp hurries to put the barracuda in the fish tank while the others started running to the dining hall to watch the barracuda get placed in the water.

"AWESOME! GREAT JOB ROSE!" Chopper says as he looks at her in excitement as Usopp walks in.

Rose gives him a sheepish grin while rubbing the back of her neck. "Th-thanks. I guess I was lucky."

Luffy shakes his head with a grin. "No way. Even on your first day on the crew you managed to catch a flying shark."

She looks at him in shock. "I DID WHAT?!"

"It was a normal shark but Luffy sent it flying and then you caught it with your wind. I still can't believe your luck with fish…" Usopp says as he slumps in depression.

Rose goes to him and pats his shoulder. "You taught me on my first day here right? I'm sure your teaching helped me a lot. Thanks for the help."

Usopp immediately recovers. "Not a problem! Captain Usopp is always here to teach!"

The four of them grin when Nami runs into the room.

"GUYS! WE GOT A SHIP FULL OF BOUNTY HUNTERS ATTACKING!"

"WHAT?!" The four of them run out of the room to see a giant ship full of bounty hunters firing cannons at them and jumping onto the ship.

Before Rose could react Luffy picked her up and ran to the infirmary.

She looks at him in shock as she struggles to get down but he keeps a hold of her. "Hey! What are you doing?! I can fight too!"

He shakes his head as he stops in the infirmary and sets her down. "No way. I got another job for you."

He takes his hat off and puts it on her head. "This hat is an important treasure. I need you to keep it safe for me."

Rose froze in shock as she remembers her mom. ("This necklace is an important treasure. I need you to protect it for us.") When she snapped out of it Luffy closed the door behind him and locked it.

(No!) Rose ran to open the door but it was already locked tight. "DAMNIT, LET ME OUT LUFFY!" She banged the door and tried to ram it but the door won't budge.

(DAMNIT!) She turns around to get some distance to ram the door but stops when she sees a fresh calendar on the wall showing that it's September. (It can't be... And the memory… I have to leave now!) She stepped back and started focusing on her devil fruit abilities. (Come on work with me here! I need to go!) She placed her wrists together with her palms facing out to create an orb of wind and aimed for the door. "WIND CANNON!"

Rose blasted a hole through the door with the wind pressure then started flying out of the room. (You guys had better be ok!) She stops at the doorway to watch the fight take place.

The crew was fighting against the lackeys left and right in their own way while Luffy was fighting off 20 guys at once.

Rose looks from the doorway in shock. (Wow, these guys are amazing! I wish I read this series sooner to know more about them. I guess that's what my older self did. Looks like I worried too much. Still, I'm so gonna give Luffy an earful for scaring me like-) She cuts herself off when a sea stone net was launched and landed on Luffy.

"LUFFY!" The crew tries to back Luffy up but they were caught in their own fights to help him.

The leader: a muscular purple haired man named Lee laughs as he walks up to Luffy while he lays exhausted under the net. "Stupid devil fruit users. Just because they have some power they think that they're invincible. I hope you're ready to die Monkey D. Luffy."

He pulled out his gun and aimed it at Luffy when Rose flew in and used her wind to send Lee and some of the goons flying then sent the net flying off of Luffy. As Rose landed she got her fists ready by turning them into twisters.

Luffy got up and turns to her in shock. "What are you doing here Rose? I told you-"

"To protect your hat. Nothing about not fighting. As long as I don't get hurt along with your hat then no harm done. If you got a problem with that then bite me! I'm fighting with my crew!"

Luffy looks at her in shock then gets in a stance. "Fine then, just stay close to me got it?"

She nods. "Yea."

Lee recovered and looks at them in shock then starts glaring. "I can't believe pirates would stoop so low as to recruit a child. MEN! SHOW NO MERCY TO THE KID EITHER!"

The men charged at Luffy and Rose but they both had each other's backs as they took them down left and right. If one of the hunters was going to attack one of them from behind the other would protect them and take him down.

Lee clenches his teeth in frustration as he placed a new bullet in his gun. (I managed to only forge one sea stone bullet. If I can just take down Straw Hat then I'll be set for life!) He aims his gun at Luffy while he was taking down a few of the guys.

Rose sends some of the hunters flying when she sees Lee aiming his gun at Luffy. (No!) She flies in front of Lee and hits him with a twister punch to send him flying but accidentally caused him to fire and graze her right arm. (ACK!)

Luffy widened his eyes in shock as he saw Rose get shot then clenched his teeth as he got into second gear and ran next to Lee in a flash. "Why you- GUM GUM JET PISTOL!" Luffy punched Lee in the gut and sent him flying back to his ship causing both the crew and the bounty hunters to look at him in shock.

(Whoa!) Rose holds the wound with her left arm while watching in awe as Luffy recovered and glared at the shocked bounty hunters.

"If you don't want to end up like your boss then get out of here NOW!" Luffy roared causing the bounty hunters to run back to their boat to sail away while Chopper carried Rose into the infirmary with the others following.

Chopper examined the wound and worked to get it treated. "It looks like you were hit by a sea stone bullet."

Rose looks at him in confusion. "What's sea stone?"

"It's a stone that could cancel out a devil fruit user's power and saps away their energy. Try using your wind."

Rose complies as she sets a breeze in the room.

Chopper nods in approval then gives her some pain killers. "Take these. It looks like there aren't any remnants of the sea stone bullet in the wound so It'll be easy to treat since it's a graze. Doesn't look like it'll scar either."

She takes the pain killers as Chopper treats her then chuckles. "Too bad, it would've been a cool scar."

"THIS ISN'T A JOKE!" Luffy yells causing everyone to turn to him in shock.

"Whoa Luffy take it easy. She's gonna be ok." Usopp says.

"She shouldn't have been out there fighting in the first place! What were you thinking Rose?!"

Rose glares back at him. "What about you?! You think it's alright to just lock me in a room and leave your treasure with me as if you were gonna die?! By the way here!" Rose tosses the hat back to him with her good arm.

He catches it but keeps his glare at her. "I did that to keep you safe!"

"I'm tired of being the one kept safe!"

Robin steps in. "Both of you calm down! Rose, what do you mean you're tired?"

Rose sighs and looks down for a moment then looks at them. "What day is today?"

Nami widens her eyes as she realizes where she's going with this. "September 1st."

Rose slowly nods. "I thought so, back when I was ten on September 1st my family's house was broken into and my mom forced me out of the house to protect me. I wanted to help but they locked me out and…" Tears started falling causing her to stop as she wipes it off then glares at him. "If you think I'm gonna be forced out while others are fighting again then-"

Luffy cuts her off as he gently hugs her. "I'm sorry…"

Her face gets red again in shock then calms down. "Me too…" She tries to return the hug but cringes.

"Take it easy Rose. Everyone leave!" Chopper says as Luffy lets go and leaves along with the others to let Chopper treat her.

* * *

The crew stand around solemnly on the deck while Luffy looks out into the horizon on the head of the Sunny and Zoro grabs some sake from the kitchen.

"So that's how it was…" Sanji says as he lights a cigarette to start smoking.

"WAAH! I couldn't imagine Freckles losing her parents like that! I'm not crying assholes!" Franky says as he starts bawling.

"WE AREN'T EITHER WAAH!" Brook and Usopp yell at the same time as they join Franky and cry in a corner.

"That explains why she's always trying to protect us…" Robin says with Nami nodding.

Luffy turns to the crew as he gets down from the Sunny's head. "Guys, I got an idea."

The crew walks up to him curiously as he talks about his plan.

* * *

Chopper finishes treating Roses wounds then looks at her sadly. "I'm sorry to hear about your folks. Was that why you had those nightmares?"

Rose widens her eyes in shock then nods with a weak grin. "I still get those huh? That explains why Luffy gave me the sake. Don't worry I only have to deal with them once a year so it's not too bad. You know, you're a pretty good doctor I rarely felt you treating me. Who taught you?"

"My teacher Doctorine taught me back in Drum Island."

"What was that place like?"

"There was snow everywhere! My other teacher Dr. Hiruluk made it so that cherry blossoms can bloom there even though it always snows."

She looks at him in excitement. "Really?! That sounds beautiful!"

Chopper nods with a smile. "Yea, there are other beautiful places too! Like there's an actual island in the sky!"

She looks at him in shock. "No way! Are you serious?!"

"Yea! It was so cool! We were actually sailing on the clouds!"

"Awesome! I bet that was a real adventure."

Chopper nods then giggles. "You would've loved it! Usopp can tell the story better though. Hey, after dinner do you want to ask if he'll tell it?"

Rose nods eagerly. "I'd like that!"

Luffy walks into the room with a small grin. "Hey guys, how's it going?"

Chopper nods. "Rose'll be just fine. I just finished patching her up."

Luffy nods in approval then stretches his arm to grab Roses good arm and picks her up over his shoulder causing her to yell in shock.

"WHAT THE HELL IS WITH YOU PEOPLE AND LIFTING ME?! PUT ME DOWN!" Rose tries to get down but Luffy doesn't let her as he walks out of the infirmary with her in tow and Chopper following.

"Luffy! Take it easy on her! She's recovering!" Chopper says as he works to keep up the pace.

Luffy nods as he keeps a hold of her while she struggles. "Don't worry, I won't overdo it. Quit struggling Rose!"

"I'll quit struggling when you put me down! Where are we going anyway?!"

"Shishishi! It's a surprise, but you gotta close your eyes."

(Why do I feel like he won't listen to me? *Sigh*) "Fine…" Rose complies and keeps her eyes closed as the three of them made it to the dining hall.

Chopper looks at the room in surprise but Robin puts a hand on her mouth indicating him to stay silent as he nods and joins them. Luffy sets her down in a chair then joins the group. "Ok, open them."

Rose opens her eyes then widens them in shock to see the dining hall decorated and food everywhere including a big cake in front of her with lit candles. "What the-"

"Happy Un-Birthday!" The crew says causing her to look at them in confusion.

"Un-birthday?"

Luffy nods with a toothy grin. "Yup, since you got younger today it's your un-birthday! Go make a wish so we can eat!"

She looks at the cake in shock before grinning. (These guys…) She takes a deep breath before blowing and accidentally using too much wind to send the whole cake flying and landing on Luffy.

Nami sighs in exasperation. "Well, we should've figured that would happen…"

Robin giggles while Usopp, Chopper, Franky, Zoro and Brook laugh at the display.

"You better not waste the cake Luffy." Sanji says but couldn't help himself from grinning.

Rose does her best to hold back from laughing. "I-I'm sorry I-"

Luffy stretches his tongue to eat all of the cake that was on him then starts laughing "SHISHISHI, that was great! Thanks for sending it flying to me!"

Rose looks at him in utter shock. (What the- The whole cake, he just-) She recovers then laughs wholeheartedly along with the rest of the crew.

She starts recovering while wiping a tear from her eye "Thanks you guys. Let's party!"

"YEA!" The crew yelled as the party went off without a hitch.

* * *

The party started to settle in the middle of the night. Rose sat on the railing while Zoro, Chopper, Franky and Usopp were passed out on the deck. Brook was playing the violin softly in the middle of the night as the rest of them were leaning against the railing next to Rose watching the stars.

Rose turns to the group. "Hey guys, would the older me remember today?"

The others look at each other in concern.

"I'm not sure." Sanji says.

She nods with a soft grin. "I see… If I don't remember can you guys remind me? I'd rather not forget today for once."

Luffy nods with a grin. "Not a problem."

"You should get some sleep. The past few nights you didn't really get any." Nami says causing her to nod and stand on the railing.

"Ok, I'm getting tired anyway. If I turn back to normal when I sleep I wanna thank you guys for today." (My older self really knew what world to pick. She'd better be good to this crew. *THROB* What the-)

The others look at Rose with concern as she places a hand on her head then falls off the railing as she passes out with a puff of smoke forming around her.

"ROSE!" Luffy stretches his arm out and managed to grab 17 year old Rose before she landed in the ocean. He pulled her back onto the ship and holds her bridal style.

Sanji starts having hearts in his eyes as he looks at Roses sleeping form. "Mellorine! Rose's back to normal! She looks so adorable in shorts and in-"

"Shut up Sanji! You're gonna wake her!" Luffy growls causing Sanji to glare at him until Nami puts a hand on his shoulder.

"Sanji-kun. May I have a snack please?"

"Yes Nami swaan!" He love tornadoes into the kitchen while Brook stops playing.

"I'm glad Rose-san is back to normal. Still, it was pretty fun having her younger form around. Wait, her arm's healed." Brook says causing them to look at her arm.

"Wow, must be the aging." Nami says.

"I better bring her to bed." Luffy says as he starts walking inside with Rose in his arms.

"I'll open the door for you captain." Robin says as they make their way to the girls' room. On the way Rose wrapped her arms around Luffy and started cuddling with him in her sleep.

"Wh-what the?" Luffy looks at her sleeping form in shock as she grins while cuddling with him.

Robin giggles at the reaction as she leads them to the girls' room. "Looks like the shoe's on the other foot captain."

Luffy looks at her confused. "What do you mean?"

"You're always the one hugging her. Looks like it's the other way around this time." Robin says causing Luffy to lightly blush. "Why exactly did you want to cheer her up so badly?"

Luffy looks down at Roses sleeping form before speaking. "When I saw her so shaken this morning I felt bad inside. It was worse than when I eat too much. The bad feeling wouldn't go away the more I thought about it. I wanted to make her feel better sort of the way she always cheered me up when I'm down, but I made things worse…"

Robin shakes her head. "I wouldn't think so. It looked like the younger Rose had the time of her life today. I'm sure this Rose remembers as well or she wouldn't be hugging you."

Luffy looks at her in shock before nodding with a grin. "Thanks." He tries to place Rose onto the bed but she doesn't let go of him. "What the?"

Robin giggles at Luffy's shock. "If you want, I can talk to Nami and ask if it's ok for you to stay with her tonight."

Luffy recovers from the shock then grins while nodding. "Thanks Robin."

Robin nods as she leaves the room to talk to Nami while Luffy settles onto the bed with Rose.

(Good night Rose.) He grins as he cuddles with her and falls asleep.

* * *

Rose woke up with a light smile near the brink of dawn and was about to get up when she felt herself being held back. (Oh, don't tell me.) She nervously looks down to confirm her suspicions as she sees Luffy's arms wrapped around her multiple times.

(AGAIN?! WHAT THE HELL?! Wait, what happened yesterday? I-) She cuts herself off as memories of her being a kid yesterday start coming back to her. She starts shaking from holding herself back from laughing. (BWAHAHAHA! Oh man, that was nuts!) She turns to see Luffy sleeping on his side facing her.

(I really put him through the wringer yesterday. I better apologize later. *Yawn* Nope! I can't sleep anymore! I gotta get some training in for Marineford!) Rose focused and turned herself into wind to get out of Luffy's grip. (Alright! I conquered the vice grip from hell!) She quietly walks away triumphantly until she opens the door and freezes when she sees Nami and Robin in front of her.

She turns to realize both of their beds were empty. (Oh boy…)

"Go back to bed Rose. You're not getting up until it's time for breakfast." Nami whispers.

Rose looks at her in confusion then starts whispering. "Huh? What do you mean?"

"You're catching up on your sleep." Robin says.

She looks at them in disbelief. "Guys come on. I slept enough yesterday didn't I?"

Nami shakes her head. "Not long enough. Your nightmare shouldn't come back until next year right? So what's the problem?"

"For one thing my bed's occu- WAAH!" Rose was cut off as Luffy stretched his arm around her waist and pulled her back onto the bed in his sleep. She turns to him in complete shock. (HOW DID HE KNOW WHO TO FREAKING GRAB IN HIS SLEEP?!)

Nami and Robin both giggle at her reaction.

"Seems like the captain's on our side too. By the way, do you remember what happened yesterday ?" Robin asks.

Rose nods. "Yea, sorry for the trouble and thanks for dealing with me. I'm never gonna forget this one." She lightly giggles as she tries to get out of bed but was held back by Luffy's arms. She blushes from the embarrassment then points to Luffy. "This, I don't remember though! Why is Luffy in my bed?"

"You clung to him in your sleep." Robin says.

Rose widens her eyes in shock. "I did what?!"

Nami nods with a mischievous smirk. "Yup, you wouldn't let go of him so we agreed he could stay here. You two were pretty cute together."

Rose averts her gaze. "You're never gonna let me live this down are you?"

Nami shakes her head. "Sorry, but I'll let it go for today if you get back to sleep. Deal?"

"*Sigh* Fine..." She turns away completely embarrassed as the girls start leaving.

Nami stops herself at the doorway and turns to her. "You know, you should confess to him. Chances are, it'll be years if it's up to him."

Rose widens her eyes while Nami giggles and closes the door. (C-confess?! I don't remember being in a shoujo manga! And how many times do I need to say that I'm not in love with-) She freezes as she looks at Luffy's sleeping face and realizes that she couldn't finish the thought. (… That's how it is huh?) She sighs then relaxes in Luffy's embrace. (Even if I had the guts to say anything we'd just be separated at Sabaody… I'm sorry Luffy…) She gives him a soft look as she snuggles up to him and hugs him before falling into a dreamless sleep.

TO BE CONTINUED


	19. Chapter 19

A few days after the kid incident things have been sailing smoothly for the Straw Hats. One morning after training Rose went into the empty music room to practice the guitar. (We'll be at Sabaody any day now… I really don't want it to be today… Good thing the room is sound proof, so I can cheer myself up from the thought.) She grabs her guitar and sits down while playing "Caught in the Storm" by Smash.

You can push me away~  
I can take it~  
I can make you a promise~  
And break it~  
We know the way it goes by now~  
Running off just to see~  
If I chase you~  
I pretend I know how to replace you~  
Still we get tangled up somehow~  
Hear it thunder~  
And I wonder~  
How long can I hang on~

She strums the guitar faster then jumps from the excitement and plays while standing with a smile.

I'm caught in the storm~  
I'm caught in the rain~  
I'm caught in the rush that hides this pain~  
I'm ready to drown~  
But it's coming down~  
But I feel so alive~  
Just let me go~  
Just walk away~  
If you love someone you never let them stay~

I'm caught in the storm~

As the bars on the Bowri are closing~  
You arrive at the door standing frozen~  
You say you thought you'd find me here~  
Tell me how I begin to forget you~  
When you keep coming back and I let you~  
Love me until you disappear~

I'm caught in the storm~  
I'm caught in the rain~  
I'm caught in the rush that hides this pain~  
I'm ready to drown~  
But it's coming down~  
But I feel so alive~  
Just let me go~  
Just walk away~  
If you love someone~  
You never let them stay~

Caught in the storm~

Let me wash away~  
You can find me after the flood~  
Let me wash away~

Caught in the storm~  
Caught in the rain~  
Caught in the rush that hides this pain~  
If you love someone~  
You find a way to stay~  
Caught in the storm~  
Hmmm~

She sets the guitar down with a smile then suddenly hears clapping "Waah!" She jumps back in shock and crashes into the drum set then sits up to see Nami laughing at the reaction. "I swear, either you or Robin are gonna give me a heart attack!"

Nami laughs at that then extends a hand to help her up. "Sorry about that. You look like you were having so much fun that I didn't want to interrupt you."

She takes the hand with a smile and gets up. "Thanks. So, what's up?"

"We made it to the Red Line! Everyone's gathered at the deck right now."

(What?! We reached it today?! I was hoping for at least one more day…) Rose's heart dropped to her stomach but she didn't show it. "I see… Come on, let's go see it."

They started walking out of the room.

"By the way Rose, what exactly was that song? It was really good. Did you write that?"

Rose chuckled. "I wish, I can't write songs to save my life. That was just something I learned to play back at my hometown."

"You know, you never told us where you came from. I'm surprised your younger self didn't say anything."

"Hehe, I was always like that. If it'll make you feel better I can tell you the name of the place." (She deserves to know something. As long as I don't say where it is then no harm done.)

Nami looks at her in shock. (Rose is opening up?!) She recovers from the shock and gives her an encouraging smile. "That would be great! Go ahead."

Rose chuckles at her enthusiasm. "I'm from a city called New York."

She tilts her head in thought. "'New York'… Oh, wait! I heard that name before!"

Rose looks at her in shock. (What the hell?!) "Y-you did?!"

Nami nods. "Yea, Oars mentioned it just after he got your shadow. Looking back his reaction was kind of funny. He was exactly like you."

"Let me guess, he went something like..." Rose looked down at herself in excitement to try and imitate Oars. "Whoa! I'm a giant?! That's so cool! Where am I though? This isn't New York. What's New York again?" Rose tilted her head in confusion to show the full effect causing Nami to laugh as they made it to the deck.

"Hahaha! That was exactly like him! So where exactly is New-" She looks to see Rose flew away to the other side of the deck to look at the Red Line before Nami could finish her question. She sighs in exasperation. (Geez, just when I thought she was opening up... At least she's starting to trust us.) She smiles as she walks up to the front of the ship and looks at the giant rock called the Red Line that borders the New World. "I can't believe we made it."

"After all this time we're halfway through!" Usopp says as he starts tearing with joy.

"Once we return here after another turn around the world I will be the king of the pirates!" Luffy says as he and the others looks at the cliff with determination.

Rose stays in the back of the group and looks at the cliff sadly with a heavy heart. (Today's our last day together…) She looks at the excited crew with a soft look. (I better make it count.) Rose digs into her bag to grab a camera then puts a smile on her face. "Hey guys, how about a picture to commemorate this?"

The others turn to her then nod.

"Great idea Rose!" Robin says as she sprouted arms from the deck in front of Rose and takes the camera from her.

"Come on guys!" Luffy says as the crew gathers in front of the camera.

Franky, Nami, Brook, Zoro, Robin and Sanji gathered in the back while Usopp, Luffy, Rose and Chopper gathered in the front. As Robin used her hands to get the camera ready Luffy wrapped his arms around Rose, Usopp and Chopper's shoulders. Rose lightly blushes at being so close to Luffy but keeps a large grin on her face along with the trio. Franky placed his arms together in his signature pose while Robin had her arms crossed with a grin on her face as the others smiled and gathered close. When the camera flashed Franky slipped causing the others in the back to fall forward and dogpile on Rose and the guys in the front. Robin's arms disappeared and dropped the camera while most of the crew members were laughing at the slip and get up.

"Aww, come on guys." Nami says as she shakes her head and takes the camera from the ground. "I hope the picture didn't get ruined."

Rose shakes her head with a smile. "I think it'll be fine either way. I'll get the picture developed when we reach the island."

"How are we going to get past this rock anyway?" Sanji asks as he looks at the cliff.

"That's a good question." Nami looks at the log pose that's pointing down. "It's pointing downwards… Does this mean that we have to go underwater?"

"We can check it out with the new submarine I built. Who wants to try it?" Franky asks.

"I'll go!" Luffy says with Brook and Robin volunteering.

"Alright, come with me." Franky says as he shows them the way.

Rose takes the camera from Nami then watches as she, Sanji, Usopp and Chopper head inside.

"Had a bad vision Rose?" Zoro asks snapping her out of her daze.

(I forget that Zoro's sharp.) "I'm fine. It looks like we're gonna meet a mermaid today so you'd better be prepared for Sanji."

Zoro keeps his stare at her as she starts walking away. "Hold it." She turns to him in confusion that immediately turns to shock as he unsheathes his swords. "You've been training a lot lately. Hope you've been training with those blades."

(Oh crap, he wants to spar? You know what? Why not?) She nods as she grabs her staff from her back strap then unsheathes the twin blades with a smirk. "Just so we're clear, I'm not the same kid you found in the infirmary anymore."

He nods with a smirk. "You're definitely gutsier."

The two charge to face off on the deck of the ship with the sounds of blades clashing filling the air. She dodges his blades with ease thanks to her wind while countering. Every move Rose makes was blocked and countered by Zoro with neither side giving an inch. Zoro charges forward with his three blades as she blocks then pushes him back with her wind.

He pulled his swords back. "360 Caliber Phoenix!"

"Wind Blade Cross!" Both forces collided and cancelled each other out.

Both of them start panting with Zoro nodding with smirk. "Not bad." They both charge again but stop when the submarine surfaces and the others start heading to the deck.

"Looks like we're about to have company." Rose says as she sheathes the blades then turns to Zoro with a grin. "Good sparring match Zoro. I had fun."

Zoro nods as they make it to the side of the boat where the others are.

"Did you guys find anything?" Nami asks as Robin, Brook and Luffy get out of the submarine.

Robin shakes her head. "No, we couldn't find the entrance to Fishman Island… If we went any deeper the submarine wouldn't have been able to withstand the pressure."

Franky scratches his head in thought. "How the heck are we supposed to get there then?"

"I think our friend in the sea rabbit can help." Rose says as she points to the angry sea rabbit that's starting to surface.

"WAAH! THE SEA MONSTER FOLLOWED US!" Luffy yelled as he got in a stance. "Don't think you can beat me on land. Gum Gum Pistol!" He punched the sea rabbit in the gut and sends him flying.

"You know, he didn't seem that big." Usopp says casually.

"That's because Oars was larger." Chopper says when the others watch the sea rabbit start landing back in the ocean but not before throwing up a green haired mermaid and a starfish.

"MERMAID!" Sanji yells in excitement as he runs to catch her but got tackled to the ground.

Zoro sweat drops at Sanji's excitement "Moron..."

"I'm so sorry! Are you ok?" The mermaid asks as she gets off of him.

Sanji nods with hearts in his eyes. "I'm alright mermaid-san."

The others but Rose and Zoro look at her in shock.

"She's beautiful! My heart is beating with excitment, or it would be if I had a heart. YOHOHOHO!" Brook says.

"I'm impressed the rabbit's stomach acids didn't kill her." Robin says causing the others to looks at her nervously while the mermaid turns to them in shock.

"WAAH! THAT'S A LOT OF HUMANS!" She immediately calms down then smiles at them. "Thanks for stopping me from getting digested. I'm always getting eaten. My name is Camie. I know of a way to thank you! Do you want some takoyaki?"

"Takoyaki?! That's my favorite food!" Luffy says in excitement.

"Great! That'll be 500 beli."

"This isn't a store!" The starfish says as he smacks her.

"Right, sorry!"

While the others were introducing themselves to Camie Rose walked over to the forgotten starfish. "Hi there, I'm Rose. You're Pappagg right?"

He looks at her in shock. "Y-yea how'd you know?"

"I'm good with names."

"He's my pet and also my master." Camie says as the crew turns to him.

"He's your pet and your master? How does that work?" Chopper asks when Pappagg jumps onto the railing.

"She keeps me as her pet and feeds me clams while I teach her about designing." He says but everyone but Rose turned their attention.

"I'm impressed. How are you able to talk?" Rose asks causing him to turn to her.

"When I was a kid I thought I was a human so I learned how to talk like one. By the time I realized that I was a starfish I was already speaking like a human."

"Is that how it really works?" Luffy asks as he turns to them.

Pappagg nods "This world is a strange and frightening place. Thanks for coming to my aid."

Nami nods with a smile. "This is great! We were having some issue on how to get to Fishman Island."

"Hold on Nami! The takoyaki comes first!" Luffy says when Camie grabs her ringing den den mushi.

"Don't worry, I'll give you the takoyaki but I need to find Hacchin first." She picks up the den den mushi. "Hello Hacchin, It's Camie. Sorry, I got kind of lost. Where are you right now?"

The den den mushi responds. "Oh Camie is it? Do you know who you're speaking with? This isn't Hacchi you know?"

She looks at the den den mushi in shock. "EH?! THIS ISN'T HACCHIN?!"

"This is Makuro from the famous Makuro crew!"

"What are you doing with Hacchin's den den mushi?!"

"We've beaten your precious Hacchin."

"There's no way he'd be beaten by you losers!"

"That may be true, but we have the flying fish riders on our side this time! We'll let you talk to him."

The den den mushi changes voices. "Camie, I'm glad you're ok. Listen, don't come find me. I'll escape soon!"

The den den mushi changes voices again back to Makuro. "I doubt that. We're going to sell him off real soon. After all, octopus fish men are rare. If you want to save him go to grove 44."

Nami tilts her head in thought. (Hacchin's voice was familiar… It couldn't be…)

"I'm sorry Luffy; can I give you the takoyaki some other time? I need to go help Hacchin." Camie says as she starts leaving but Nami stops her.

"Hold on Camie. We can help you against the kidnappers if you want."

"Really?" Cami asks.

She nods then points to the guys. "Well actually these guys will help."

"What about you?!" Usopp and Franky say

Nami ignores them. "In return you'll help us get to Fish Man Island deal?"

Camie nods. "Not a problem! Thank you so much!"

Rose watches the scene with a smile. (Looks like things are running smoothly. I know things will be awkward with Hacchi, but it'll be fine. Seeing Duval will definitely be-) Rose freezes then turns to fly up to the observatory.

Chopper looks at her in confusion. "Where are you going Rose?"

"To laugh my ass off now, so I can take this fight seriously." (I should make sure I packed everything I need from the observatory as well…) She goes in through the window while the others sweat drop as they hear faint laughter.

"What did she see?" Brook asks.

"I don't think I want to know." Zoro says as the others make their way to the grove.

* * *

Rose just finished taking what she needed from the observatory with a sad smile. (I guess that's it. I shouldn't take too much. I got my journal, the page about the Onnet Crystal and the age sake. Hehe, who knows? Maybe the sake could come in handy.) Rose looks around the room one more time then flips the switch to block out the windows and sadly looks at the fake stars on the ceiling.

(I know it'll just be two years, but it's still sad… I should go before the others get worried.) Rose unblocks the windows then flies out to find Camie and Pappagg sitting on the railing sadly while the others are getting the cannons ready.

"Will Hacchin really be ok?" Camie says out loud.

"Don't worry Camie. We'll get him back." Rose says as she sits next to her.

She turns to her in shock then slowly nods. "Can you see it with your visions?"

She nervously nods. "You can say that… I can guarantee Hacchi won't be sold. Mind if I ask what Fishman Island's like?"

She starts smiling as she nods. "It's really beautiful. Fish men and mermaid alike live in peace under King Neptune. And there are fish men of all kinds living together."

She softly smiles at her. "That sounds nice."

"Guys, we're getting close." Robin says as the crew looks to the front and sees Duval's base approaching.

Camie turns to the crew. "Guys, be careful. Makuro caught me about 30 times."

"You've been captured too much!" Usopp says as the ship sails through the opening of the base.

"It's quiet…" Zoro says as he has his hands on the scabbards.

The crew look around the base to find a cage dangling in the middle of the base with a tied up pink octopus fish man with grey spiky hair inside.

"Hacchin, is that you?" Camie calls out after the octopus fish man squirts ink on his face then turns to them.

"Camie this is a trap! Turn back now!" Hacchi says. (Please don't recognize me Straw Hats!)

"WHAT HAPPENED?! WHY ARE YOU ALL BLACK?!" Camie and Pappagg yell.

"Don't worry about me! I'm fine!" Hacchi says.

"I definitely heard that voice before. What do you think Nami?" Zoro says as he eyes Hacchi suspiciously.

Nami strokes her chin in thought. "It's definitely possible…"

Sanji turns to him. "Let's try this. OI, HOW'S ARLONG DOING?!"

"He's in prison! I'm the only one that escaped! I managed to open up a takoyaki shop like I've always dreamed of!" Hacchi responded then widened his eyes in realization. "OH CRAP!"

"IT REALLY IS YOU!" Nami yelled.

"What's going on?" Robin asks.

"Right, Nami's hometown was under control of the Arlong Pirates and the octopus was one of their crew mates." Usopp says.

"An old enemy huh?" Franky says.

"Yea, then I took Luffy and the others and defeated the entire crew!" Usopp says causing Chopper to look at him in excitement as he continued. "It looks like one of them escaped the marines though."

Luffy glares at him. "SO YOU'RE HACCHIN?! THERE'S NO WAY WE'RE GONNA HELP YOU NOW! … But, is your takoyaki that good?"

Sanji looks at him in disbelief. "Don't get caught between your appetite and your reasoning."

"Are you guys Hacchin's friends?" Camie asks innocently.

Zoro turns to her and glares. "We aren't his friends."

"EEP!" Camie shrieks then turns to Nami. "But, Nami-chin?"

Nami shakes her head. "Sorry Camie, I didn't think it was him."

"No… Then if you're not going to save him then I will!" She turns to the ocean angrily.

"Camie wait!" Rose tries to stop her and Pappagg but they dove into the water and got caught by the fish men. (*sigh* Here we go.) Rose got her staff ready as the others started getting ready to fight.

"Why those… I'm going to go save Camie at least." Sanji says as he steps to the side of the boat.

Nami puts a hand on his shoulder to stop him. "Hold on Sanji, I've decided we can save him too."

"Huh?" The others turn to her in shock as she grins. "Yea, Hachi's alright. He's actually pretty harmless. Besides, we promised Camie we'd help him."

"If you say so Nami, let's go save the Octopus as well." Luffy says with takoyaki in his eyes then jumps off the boat and stretches to grab Camie.

"Luffy-chin!" Camie says as they land on the base with the fish men glaring at them.

"Straw Hat! I'm in your debt! You guys have to be careful! The flying fish riders have the place surrounded!" Hachi yells as the crew gets ready.

"From the sea or the sky we'll kick their asses!" Luffy says as he cracks his knuckles.

The flying fish riders fly out of the ocean and surround the Sunny. Luffy stretches and climbs onto one of the flying fish while Sanji deflects the flying bombs.

"GUYS! LUFFY'S ON ONE OF THE FISH!" Chopper yells.

"I'll make sure he doesn't drown." Rose says as she flies up while the flying fish start diving. Before Luffy's fish makes it to the water Rose grabs Luffy's arm and pulls him off the fish and lands the two of them onto the Sunny. "If you wanted to fly so badly all you had to do was ask."

"I still wanna try though." Luffy says

She sighs then watches the fish fly out of the ocean again. "I guess I can see your point. Flying on a fish does sound awesome."

"Don't encourage him!" Franky says when the flying fish surround the Sunny. While the crew was fighting off the fish riders Makuro and his two fish men lackeys start emerging from the water.

"Now's our chance! Let's get Camie!" Makuro says as they swim to them but freeze when they hear slashing and turn to see Zoro cut the bars off of Hacchi's cage and sliced his bindings off.

"Thanks for freeing me Roronoa! You really are a great guy!" Hachi says as he dives off into the water.

"I was just following orders." Zoro says as he jumps off the cage and lands on the island while Hachi beats up the fish men.

"HACCHIN!" Camie jumped to hug Hacchi along with Pappagg while Zoro protected them against the incoming flying fish rider.

"You guys leave this to us." Zoro says.

Hachi starts crying tears of joy. "Thank you so much Roronoa, I'm sorry for attacking you back then."

"I didn't feel it." Zoro says as he protects them from the flying fish while the crew fights off the fish riders on the Sunny. Usopp managed to shoot down one of the fish riders with a cannon. "Alright! I got him!"

"Way to go Usopp!" Chopper says but more of them started coming.

(I haven't been in a sky battle since Kalifa! This is exciting!) Rose started flying up and launching twister punches left and right and taking down half of the riders while the attacks kept going through her.

"Whoa, look at her go!" Nami says as they watch her fight them off.

"Hey Rose, help me ride one!" Luffy says.

"Keep focused!" Usopp says as he whacks him.

Brook walks up to the side of the boat and starts unsheathing his sword. "As a Straw Hat pirate it would be a disgrace if I couldn't assist Rose-san in reducing their numbers." He jumps up in the air almost as high as Rose and starts playing his violin for the incoming fish riders. "Nemuriuta Flan!"

Rose turns around and sees Brook putting the fish riders around them to sleep then running on the water to slash through them all the way to the base. "Way to go Brook!" Rose says as she gets back to her fight and punches out a fish rider.

"Good job Brook!" Luffy stretches his arms as he grabs onto one of the flying fish with a sleeping rider and tossed him overboard. Rose caught the guy with her wind and landed him on the base then watched as Luffy's fish sent him flying inside the hideout.

(Looks like it's only a matter of time now.) Rose flew back to the ship and helped the guys fight off the fish riders.

"RUN!" Luffy yells as he runs out of the base with harpoons being shot at him. Zoro, Hachi, and Brook look at him in shock as Luffy runs towards them. "THERE'S A MASK GUY AND A COW COMING!"

Zoro quirks an eyebrow at him. "A cow?" They turn in shock to see a large man in an iron mask riding a giant cow with a harpoon gun and breaking through his base.

The crew on the ship look at the man in shock. "What the hell?!" Usopp says as the man yells at his men.

"MEN! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! YOU'RE NOT MOSQUITOES! YOU'RE THE FLYING FISH RIDERS!" The masked man yells.

Luffy looks at him in shock. "He broke his own base?!"

"I don't need it as long as I can kill you Straw Hats!"

One of the fish riders bows to him in apology. "We're sorry Duval! We'll take care of them right-"

"Shut up!" Duval yells as he turns to the ship. "I didn't enter this trade because I wanted to! But today is a glorious day. The man who I've wanted to kill for so long has finally arrived!" He turns to the Sunny. "The man who ruined my life is finally here! Today I will definitely kill you. BLACK LEG SANJI!"

Sanji looks at him in shock as the others turn to him.

"Who is this guy? Why does he want to kill you?" Franky asks.

"I have no idea." Sanji says and he scratches his head in thought.

"Think back, you must have done something." Chopper says.

"Could it be someone from the restaurant?" Nami asks.

"That has to be it." Usopp says.

Robin turns to Rose and whispers. "What's this about?"

"If I say it now I'll just lose my composure. It'll be clear soon." Rose whispers when she sees Duval aiming his launcher at them. "GUYS, DUCK!"

The others turn to where Rose is looking at as Rose ran to the railing and flew off the ship. When Duval fired his harpoons she turned both of her arms into twisters and extended them to block the harpoons from attacking the ship.

Duval starts growling angrily. "That little…" He aimed his harpoons at Rose but before he fired Luffy kicked off his mask causing the fish riders to look at him angrily.

Duval growls as he covers his face with his hand. "Why you… Fine, take a good look at my scarred face." Duval turns his head to show the crew shocking the others especially Sanji.

"What?!" Usopp and Chopper say.

Nami gasps. "No way!"

Sanji stays silent as he dives into the water and starts swimming to the base while Rose lands on the ship.

Duval pulls out Sanji's wanted poster angrily. "I've waited for this day! But finding you was a problem because the face on this poster is so different from your actual face! Bounty hunters could just pass you by with ease. When marines look at me however they assume I'm you. You know what I say "I'm not him!" 'I'm not even a pirate!'" Tears stream down his face as he reveals his face to look exactly like Sanji's wanted poster.

Robin turns to Rose. "I see what you mean."

Rose nods as she and the others watch Sanji run on the base and jumps to kick Duval. "WHO CARES?!" He kicks Duval in the head causing him to turn to him in irritation.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN 'WHO CARES'?! IF YOU DON'T TAKE RESPONSIBILITY THEN WHO WILL?!"

"SHUT UP! I'M MORE PISSED OFF ABOUT THAT WANTED POSTER THAN ANYONE!"

The group on the Sunny watch the encounter in fascination.

"Wow, I can't believe these things happen." Chopper says.

"What a crazy world we live in." Nami says.

"You got that right." Rose says as she leans against the railing. (Good thing I got the laughing out of my system before the fight.)

"Sanji has to have been born under some kind of crazy star." Usopp says.

"He'll definitely have an interesting death." Robin says with a grin.

Franky starts bawling and wipes the tears with his arm. "Hey guys, can't we try being friends with Duval?"

Rose nods while looking at the group on the base react to this.

"Wow they really look alike huh?" Hachi says.

"Like two peas in a pod." Zoro says when Brook starts laughing like a mad man and falling to his knees while banging on the ground. "YOHOHOHOHO!"

Sanji turns to him in irritation. "BROOK! I'M GOING TO KICK YOUR ASS WHEN THIS IS OVER!"

Luffy waves at Sanji. "We'll sit this one out. You can take care of this."

"DON'T ACT LIKE IT'S MY FAULT!" Sanji turns to Duval. "If you didn't want to look like the wanted poster why didn't you just change your hair? Or grow a beard?"

Duval glares at him for a moment before pounding his open palm. "I didn't think of that."

"IF YOU'RE THAT STUPID YOU CAN ONLY BLAME YOURSELF!"

"JUST SHUT UP AND DIE!" Duval launches the harpoons at Sanji which he dodges but leaves himself cornered with the ocean behind his back and the fish riders with a steel net charging at him.

(SHIT!) Rose flies up and tries to use her wind to get Sanji out of the way, but was forced to dodge the attacks that 5 fish riders were making while surrounding her.

"Pretty impressive girl. Too bad we have to kill you now." One of the fish riders say as he tries to shoot at her but the shot goes through her.

(Why you!) Rose fights off the fish riders as the fish riders with the net caught Sanji and dragged him under water.

Luffy tried to run after him but Zoro stopped him. "You'll just drown Luffy. I'll go."

Hacchi stops him and prepares to go. "Neither of you can catch up. I'll go!"

Duval laughs at him. "Don't bother even a fish man can't catch up to those fish. Sanji is as good as dead."

Pappagg shakes his head as he points to the water. "Maybe not a fish man but a mermaid is the fastest thing in the water."

The others look around and realize Camie already dove after Sanji.

"Is Camie really that great?" Luffy asks.

Pappagg nods. "Yup, they're the fastest swimmers in the world. It's one of the reasons why hunters try to kidnap them."

While the conversation was going on Rose use her staff to create wind blades to slash the fish then slammed the riders to the base. (That takes care of them. Oh shit!) Rose turns in shock to see some of the fish riders holding a giant anchor above the Sunny. (The Sunny can take care of it.) She faces off the incoming fish riders while the others protect the Sunny.

"LONG NOSE, WAIT FOR MY SIGNAL! WE'RE GONNA USE THE SECRET WEAPON!" Franky yells as he gets to the steering wheel of the ship."

"'SECRET WEAPON'?! OK!" Usopp nods as he gets to the position.

"DO IT!" Franky yells as he and Usopp manage to get the ship to go in reverse and dodge the giant anchor from hitting them.

"WHAT THE HELL?! WHO HEARD OF A SHIP GOING IN REVERSE!" One of the remaining few fish riders yell in shock.

Rose flew behind them with a smirk. "Actually, I've seen ships that do that plenty of times." The fish riders pale as they slowly turn to her only to get hit in the nose by twister punches and sent flying next to Duval.

"DON'T THINK DODGING IS ALL WE CAN DO EITHER!" Franky yells as he and Usopp got the Lion's head to open its mouth and reveal a cannon.

"AWESOME!" Luffy, Rose and Chopper yell as they look at the cannon in excitement while the others look at it in shock.

"READY LONG NOSE?!" Franky yells

"READY!" Usopp yells.

"GOOD! THEN LET'S GIVE THEM A TASTE OF THE GAON CANNON!" The Sunny fired the gaon cannon and destroyed the rest of the base.

(THE SUNNY'S A MONSTER! AWESOME!) Rose looks as the ship with excitement as she lands on the deck and pats Usopp and Franky on the back. "That was awesome guys!"

"Thanks, we can't use it too much though because of the amount of cola it uses." Franky says as he grabs a bottle of cola then everyone looks to see Camie pulling Sanji up to the surface.

"Great work Camie!" Nami says as everyone looks at her.

"Is Sanji ok?!" Chopper asks when Nami looks at them nervously while holding Sanji to her chest.

"GUYS! I NEED HELP HE'S BLEEDING!"

"WHAT?! DID THEY BEAT HIM UP?!" Franky yells.

Rose face palms at the realization of what's going on. (Pervert…) "Trust me, he's fine..."

They all look closely to see Sanji having a nosebleed while he's being held close to Camie.

Usopp sweat drops. "Just leave him be."

"WHAT?! HE'S STILL ALIVE?!" Duval yells in rage.

Luffy looks at him blankly. "You're kind of running out of grunts."

"Why you! Try my cow Motobaro for size!" Duval charges at Luffy with his cow.

"WATCH OUT LUFFY!" Chopper yells when Luffy blocks the cow and holds him back.

Luffy starts glaring at the cow. "There's no point in fighting."

The cow starts trembling and running away and passing out causing Duval to fall to the ground and the crew to look at him curiously.

"What happened to the cow?" Zoro asks.

"He just passed out!" Nami says.

"It looks like Luffy defeated him by glaring at him." Robin says.

Rose looks at the scene curiously. (I saw this happen in the manga, but it's weird… I always thought Luffy's haki awoke after Hachi got shot, but looks like it's not the case. When exactly did it awaken?)

"WAIT, STOP!" Duval screams in pain causing Rose to snap out of her thoughts as they watch Sanji kick the crap out of Duval.

"PARAGE SHOOT!" Sanji yells as he keeps kicking Duval's face until he passed out then the crew, Camie, Hachi and Pappagg left the base safely.

* * *

"So, in order to get to Fishman Island we need to see an engineer who can coat the Sunny with a resin?" Franky asks as he and the others enjoy Camie and Hacchi's takoyaki.

Pappagg nods as Camie and Hacchi keep cooking for everybody. "That's right. We know of an engineer that can help you at Sabaody Archipelago. We can lead you there, but for now just relax and enjoy the takoyaki."

Franky nods as everyone enjoys the food.

"This takoyaki is too good!" Luffy says as he eats up as much takoyaki as he could grab.

"I could eat this until the day I die, but I'm already dead! Yohohoho!" Brook says as he eats his.

"I'm impressed with the flavor of the sauce." Sanji says as he eats his food.

(This is great!) Rose eats her food and was about to stop Luffy from grabbing one of hers but stops her hand and lets him take it.

Chopper notices that and looks at her worried. "You ok Rose? You always manage to stop him."

Rose nods. "I'm ok. I guess my food guard is off today."

Usopp snickers. "Oh really? Maybe you just wanted him to ha-" Rose cuts him off with an elbow to the ribs.

"Sorry Usopp, what was that?"

"N-nothing!" He shakes his head while Luffy and Chopper laugh at what they saw. Luffy tries to grab one of her pieces of takoyaki again but Rose stops him with a fork to his hand.

"I'm not that generous." Rose says with a smirk as she gets back to her food while everyone laughs. (I can't act too weird now… I have to act like everything is-)

"YOUNG MASTER!" Everyone looks to the horizon to see Duval with a rearranged face and the fish riders behind him.

"That guy was the leader?" Luffy looks at him shocked.

Sanji nods. "I rearranged his face so he wouldn't look like the wanted poster anymore."

"I'm impressed." Rose says as she finishes her food and watches the scene unfold.

"After I woke up I was so stunned! I can't believe how handsome you made me! I can't just go back to my old life until I repaid my debt to you."

"It's fine. I'd rather not see you ag- OI, LISTEN TO ME!" Sanji yells as Duval stares at his new face in a handheld mirror then sees Nami patting her face with a napkin.

"Oh my! Even the ladies are blowing kisses! I'll happily accept!"

"I WAS WIPING MY FACE!" Nami yells while Robin giggles.

"In any case, here's my den den mushi number. If you guys need anything let me know."

Sanji reluctantly takes it then watches as the fish riders leave.

Rose keeps a smile on her face as everyone starts relaxing on the deck. (That fight was pretty fun. Whatever happens now, there's no turning back…) Rose softly sighed as she kept quiet while the boat started making its way to Sabaody Archipelago.

TO BE CONTINUED


	20. Chapter 20

The crew starts making its way to Sabaody Archipelago with Rose anxiously waiting for them to arrive.

(We'll be there soon… If I'm going to get this picture to the others before we separate I should find a place quickly.) Rose gets up from her seat and walks up to Camie. "So Camie, you said that Sabaody Archipelago is that way?" She points to the general direction causing the mermaid to nod.

"That's right. We should be there in an hour or so."

"I see." Rose turns to the group. "If you guys don't mind could I go ahead? I want to make sure we don't have any marines to deal with." (If I just stay here and wait I might crack. I need to keep myself busy.)

Robin looks at her curiously before nodding. "I think that's a wise decision."

The others nod in agreement with Luffy running up to her. "Can I go too?"

Rose nods. "I don't see why not. Anyone else want to come?"

Usopp and Chopper were about to speak but Nami glares holes in the back of their heads causing them to sweat drop. "No thanks… Go ahead..."

Sanji runs up to Luffy. "If you do anything to Rose I'll fry you!"

Luffy nods with a grin. "Relax Sanji, we'll be back soon."

"I know where the Sunny's gonna dock so we'll meet you guys there." Rose started to use her wind to lift the two of them off the deck and found a cloud to hide the two of them in as they made their way to the island.

(There's definitely something bothering her.) Zoro thinks as he looks at the others. (No point in worrying them. I'll just have to stay on my guard while we're here.) Zoro places his hands behind his head and starts napping while the others start getting ready for the island.

* * *

Luffy couldn't stop smiling as the two of them flew in the cloud and just arrived at Sabaody Archipelago.

"Whoa! This is so cool! Why are there bubbles everywhere?" Luffy asks as he sees the bubbles floating all over the island.

"You see this place isn't actually an island. It's a bunch of trees grown from a mangrove. These bubbles are formed from the roots here." Rose uses her wind to send some of the bubbles up to the cloud for him to see.

"Whoa!" Luffy pokes the bubble and pushes the bubbles together to form a giant bubble then pushes himself inside. "Hey Rose, stop using your wind on me for a sec. I want to see if I can fly in the bubble."

She giggles at the bubble then nods as she releases her wind to see Luffy floating by himself.

"Awesome!" he flies around for a bit and notices the amusement park. "Hey Rose, look at that!" Luffy points at it with excitement and accidentally pokes a hole in his bubble. Before he fell out of the cloud Rose caught him with her wind.

"Don't worry, I got you. Whoa, the theme park looks awesome!" Rose says as they fly over the groves to survey the area and get closer to the amusement park. (The photo shop on Grove 40 looks like a good place to develop the pictures. After looking around the amusement park we should get back to the others.)

"Wow, there's a Ferris wheel too!" Luffy says as he points to it while Rose looks at the roller coaster.

"I can't wait for the roller coaster." Rose says when Luffy tugs on her arm.

"Hey Rose, look at that." He points to two teens: a red haired guy and a black haired girl that are making out on a bench.

Rose looks at them in disbelief. (Seriously?! We'd better leave them alone.) "We shouldn't spy on them Luffy. Come on, let's-"

"CHEATER!" Rose stops to see a teenage girl with blond hair and blue eyes running up to the couple and hitting the red haired black eyed guy causing him to fall off the bench.

The black haired green eyed girl that was on the bench looks at them in confusion. "T-Taron, do you know this girl?"

"OF COURSE I KNOW HIM! THIS GUY'S MY BOYFRIEND!" The blond yells causing her to look at him in shock.

"WHAT?! HE'S MY BOYFRIEND! TELL HER TARON!"

The guy known as Taron looks at them with no remorse. "What's wrong with having two girlfriends?"

"You jerk! I can't believe you cheated on me!" The blond haired girl goes to hit him again but he dodges causing her to fall on her face while the black haired girl is frozen in shock.

"Sorry, but a guy's got his needs. At least it was fun." Taron smirks as he starts walking away but a gust of wind sends him flying and lands him head first in a trash can filled with garbage. He tries to get out but he's completely stuck as he flails his legs to try to escape until the garbage can fell over and another gust of wind rolled it away.

"WHAT THE HELL!? HELP ME!" His calls were ignored as the can rolled off into the distance until he was no longer seen.

"THAT'S WHAT YOU GET YOU PIG!" The black haired girl cheers as she and the blond girl walk away together.

"Did you do that Rose?" Luffy asks as the two of them fly away from the amusement park in the cloud.

Rose shifts her eyes everywhere while lying. "I-I didn't do that."

"Quit lying. What did she mean by him cheating on her?"

(Oh man… What to say?) She looks at him nervously. "Well, cheating is when someone umm… Does things a couple should with a different person."

"A couple is what you call the two people who kissed right?"

"Yea- No! I mean, yes and no… A couple…" (Crap! How the hell do I explain this?)

Luffy looks at her impatiently. "Come on! What is it?"

"Ok, let's make one thing clear. Nami was wrong. When you kiss someone that's not the only person you can kiss."

Luffy blinks in surprise. "They're not?"

She nods. "Yea, that rule only applies if those two people are a couple. A couple is- How do I put this? Two people who love each other more than nakama."

Luffy looks at her curiously. "More than nakama?"

She nods with an embarrassing blush on her face. "Yea, these two people have strong feelings for each other that make them want to stay by each other's side. Ok, that's enough of that… So you understand that you're free to be in love with anyone you want even though we kissed?"

Luffy nods as he scratches his head in thought then looks at her seriously. "How can two people become a-"

"GUYS, ARE YOU UP THERE?!" Chopper yells causing them to look down from the cloud to see that they're at the Sunny.

"We can talk more later. I'm gonna drop you off here Luffy. I gotta take care of an errand. I know where you guys are heading, so I'll see you later." Rose says causing Luffy to nod as she lowers him to the ground then flies away.

"Where's Freckles going?" Franky asks

Luffy shrugs. "She said she had to take care of an errand."

"I'm sure she'll catch up later. We should get going." Robin says as some of the crew starts leaving with Camie, Pappagg and Hacchi to explore the island.

* * *

(Argh! I'm so stupid! I can't believe I explained what a couple is to Luffy! I hope he actually understood that we aren't one…) Rose rubs her head in frustration as she lands in front of the camera shop. (It's not like I don't want us to be one. But, does he even feel that way or does he just like kissing?) She sighs as she walks into the store. (Forget it. Even if he does feel like that it would only hurt him more when everyone separates… I can deal with love after the two years if Luffy does feel that way.) Rose walks up to the old clerk and takes out the camera. "Excuse me. I would like to get the picture in this camera developed please."

The clerk nods as he takes the camera. "Very well miss. How many copies would you like?"

"10 please."

He nods as he heads to the back room to get the pictures ready.

She takes a seat while waiting and hugs her knees close to her chest until she hears the clerk coming. She quickly stands up when the clerk comes out with the camera and an envelope with the pictures inside.

"I must say, I developed many pictures in my day, but this is the strangest group of people I have ever seen." He says as he hands her the envelope and camera while she hands him the money.

She softly chuckles. "Yea, we're one of a kind."

"You guys are also some of the happiest people I've ever seen on camera." He hands her half the money back causing her to look at him in confusion. "For letting me see how happy you and your friends are consider my price cut in half. You're very lucky miss."

She blinks in shock before grinning. "Yea, I really am. Thank you." She inspects herself for any of Robin's ears causing the clerk to look at her in confusion before she whispers to him. "Just so you know I heard that an admiral will be coming today to fight some pirates. I recommend closing early so you wouldn't get caught in the crossfire."

He looks at her in surprise before nodding. "Thank you for the warning."

She nods as she walks out of the shop. She makes an air scooter to travel back to the ship when she is stopped by a gang of 20 bounty hunters.

"Why, hello there, little girl. Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't you Catone Rose?"

(That's right! There are bounty hunters by the dozen here.) She looks at him blankly. "If I am?"

The head bounty hunter smirks as he gets his gun out. "Then I suggest you-"

"LEAVE HER ALONE!" The bounty hunters and Rose turn in shock as three guys in jumpsuits run to the scene. One of them has orange hair and a red cap while another one is wearing a cap that says "penguin" on it. The most bizarre of them all was a giant polar bear in an orange jump suit standing behind them in a crane pose.

"Why don't you pick on somebody your own size?!" The guy with orange hair says as he and the other two got ready to fight.

The head bounty hunter starts laughing. "Want to play the hero huh? Alright, half of you take care of the girl. The rest help me take care of these three. We can fetch the polar bear for a good price."

The three guys in the jumpsuits charge to fight while Rose took out her staff and takes care of her bounty hunters with ease. (Never thought I'd meet members of Law's crew. It was nice of them to help.) Rose creates a whirlwind with her staff and sent the men flying and slammed them to a building and knocked them out.

She turns to see the two humans get pinned to the ground from behind while the polar bear is struggling to fight off the men.

The head bounty hunter smirks at the two guys. "Pathetic." He turns to see if his guys caught Rose only to get hit in the nose by a twister kick and get knocked out.

"WIND BLADE!" Rose creates a wind blade to hit the guys pinning the shocked guys and force them off of them. Rose focuses a small orb of wind on the palm of her free hand then aims it at the guy about to hit the polar bear from behind. "Wind Cannon!" She hits him the gut and sends him flying to a building while the polar bear finishes taking care of the rest of the bounty hunters.

"W-what the hell?" The guy in the penguin cap looks at her in utter shock as he and the redhead get up.

She turns to the three of them with a grin. "Sorry for the trouble and thanks for the help. My name's Rose." She politely bows to them causing them to nervously bow back.

"N-no problem!" The guy with orange hair says while hiding his blush. "My name's Shachi. And the other human is Penguin and the polar bear is Bepo."

Rose smiles as she straightens up. "Nice to meet you guys."

"I'm sorry for not helping enough." Bepo says as he stays in a bowing position.

She raises her hands defensively. "Oh no! Don't apologize Bepo! You did great! What are you guys doing here anyway?"

"We're looking for our captain." Penguin says.

"What's going on here?" The four of them turn to find a tan guy in a yellow and black hoodie, a spotted cap, silver eyes and tattoos on the back of his hands walking up to them.

(Oh crap! It's Trafalgar Law! At least I know he's an ally.) Rose stays calm while Shachi, Bepo and Penguin run up to him.

"Hi captain. We saw these thugs about to attack our friend Rose so we helped her out." Shachi says while pointing at Rose.

Penguin nods excitedly. "She didn't need our help though! You should have seen her captain! She was like-" He imitates Roses staff movements. "Whoosh! Fly! POW! She was so cool!"

Law quirks an eyebrow then looks at Rose who's sweat dropping at Penguin's movements.

"I think Penguin's over-exaggerating. Anyway, it's a pleasure to meet you. As Shachi said I'm Rose." She shakes his hand while he looks at her curiously.

"Pleasure's mine. The name's Trafalgar Law. You're a pirate right? What's your bounty?"

Rose quirks an eyebrow as she takes her hand back. (Why's he asking?) "Yea, I'm a pirate with a 97 million bounty."

"WHAT?!" Shachi, Bepo and Penguin yell in shock.

She giggles at that. "Yea, those 'thugs' were actually bounty hunters. Thanks again for the help. I'm sorry, but I have to get going. My crewmates will be wondering where I am. I'll see you guys around." Rose waves them off as she creates another air scooter and rides away causing the four of them to watch her leave in shock.

Law recovers from the shock then chuckles. "Interesting girl."

* * *

Rose made it back to the ship to see Sanji, Usopp and Franky playing cards on the deck. "Hi guys."

Sanji looks at her with hearts in his eyes and starts love tornadoing over to her. "Hello Rose-chwan! How was your errand?"

"It went really well." She dug into her bag and grabbed the envelope and took out a photo of the crew for each of them. "Here you guys go."

Usopp looks at his photo happily. "Wow, the photo wound up pretty good. Thanks, wanna play with us?"

Rose nods. "Why not? Just one game though. I gotta catch up to the others."

"SUPER! We're playing blackjack!" Franky says as he's dealing the cards for the three of them.

"So, anything new happen while I was gone?" Rose asks as she looks at her pair of aces.

Usopp shakes his head. "Not much. Franky and I fixed up the Sunny."

"I was testing out some new recipes I found." Sanji says as he looks at his 8 and king and waves his hand for no more cards.

"Sounds nice. You know, you guys can ride these bubbles." Rose says as she motions to split her aces. The new cards reveal a 9 and 8

"Really?! That sounds like fun! I'll try it later." Usopp says as he looks at his 6 and ten and motions for another card. The next card was a 7 causing him to go over 21 and loses.

Rose pats him on the shoulder. "Better luck next time."

Franky reveals his cards to a pair of 6's and when he added a new card it revealed it to be a ten causing him to go over 21 and lose. "Not SUPER!" Franky says.

Rose and Sanji high five. "Great job Rose."

"Right back at you Sanji." Rose says as she gets up. "I should get going. I'll see you guys later."

"Have fun Freckles." Franky says.

Rose turns to him as she starts flying away. "Did I ever tell you how much I like it when you call me 'Freckles' Franky?"

"No."

"Well I do. I'll see ya later big bro."

Franky looks at her in shock before giving her a thumb's up as she leaves. "SUPER!"

Rose flew up into a cloud to search for the others on the island. (Hmm. I know that most of the others will be at the shopping center and the amusement park. Since Zoro's the odd man out I should go find him. He should have faced the Celestial Dragon by now so he should be bringing the guy that got shot to the-)

"LET ME GO! I DON'T WANT TO BE MARRIED TO A CELESTIAL DRAGON!" Rose looks down from her cloud to see a guard carrying a woman in a nurse's outfit with her arms and legs tied over his shoulder on an empty street.

"Just shut up woman! You should be grateful to be chosen as one of the celestial dragon's wives." The guard says as he keeps walking until Rose lands in front of them.

"Out of my way! I'm a guard to a Celestial Dragon, a world class noble! If you defy me you defy him!" The guard says while Rose stays still.

Rose smirks as she looks around. "Sorry, I don't see any world class nobles here or any of their guards. All I see is a lowlife thug kidnapping a woman for a piece of scum. Miss, you don't want to go right?"

The woman shakes her head. "No I don't."

Rose nods. "You heard her, so just put her down and walk away while you still have your dignity."

The man gets irritated and pulls a gun out with his free hand. "Oh, yea?! Take this!" He shoots at her but the bullet goes through her causing both the guard and the woman to look at her in shock. "W-what are you?! A logia user?!"

Rose nods. "Good guess. Now please put her down."

He quickly nods and places the woman down and nervously steps away while Rose walks up to the woman. "Don't worry, I'll get you-

"LOOK OUT!" The woman yells causing Rose to turn only for a metal rod to be swung through her head courtesy of the guard.

Rose twitches an eyebrow in irritation. (Seriously, what's with all the shounen thugs attacking after they're shown mercy?!) "You pain in the ass!" She turns her arm into a twister. "TWISTER PUNCH!" She hits the guard in the face and sends him flying head first in some trash cans and knocked him out cold.

Rose grins as she turns her arm back to normal. "He should be out for a while, so we won't have to worry about the nobles." She grabs her staff and unsheathes one of the blades then turns back to the nurse who's struggling with the ropes frantically. "Hey, take it easy. I'm not gonna hurt you. I'm gonna cut the ropes, so just stay still."

The nurse calms down and stays still as Rose cuts the ropes. "Why did you save me? You know how dangerous the Celestial Dragons are right? What exactly are you anyway?"

Rose finishes cutting the ropes then helped her up and led her away from the area. "Let's see, for your first question I never liked how Celestial Dragons think they can take whatever and whoever they want. Since you don't want to be a Celestial Dragon's wife I felt that I should give you a hand. Second question: I do know how dangerous the Celestial Dragons are, but I still find them pieces of scum for using their power like spoiled brats. As for your last question: I'm definitely human but I ate a devil fruit that turned my body into wind. I'm sorry for scaring you back there. My name's Rose by the way, what's your name?"

The nurse looks at her in shock. "I-I'm Mari. Th-thank you so much for saving me! Oh wait! My fiancé was shot by a Celestial Dragon! I need to go to the hospital to see if he's there!"

(Wait, I think Zoro was involved in this. Oh, I remember! Zoro brought her fiancé to the hospital!) "Do you know how to get to the hospital? I have to meet a friend at the hospital, so I can take you there."

The nurse nods. "Thank you so much!"

Rose nods as she sends the two of them flying in a cloud and flew them quickly to the hospital.

* * *

Zoro just walked out of the hospital after dropping a guy off then looks up in shock to see Rose and Mari landing right in front of him.

"Your fiancé should be inside. Thanks again for the directions."

Mari eagerly nods then bows to her with happy tears in her eyes. "Thank you so much Rose. I won't forget this kindness!" She quickly runs inside while Zoro walks up to her.

"I take it you saw this coming?"

Rose shakes her head. "Only you bringing the guy to the hospital. I was on my way to see you in order to drop this off when I saw Mari being taken by a goon." She hands him his photo causing him to look at it.

"Thanks. So, you see anything else?"

(I shouldn't reveal too much.) "I see the others riding the Ferris wheel. I gotta get going. See ya later Zoro and don't get lost." Rose starts flying away while Zoro looks at her angrily.

"I DON'T GET LOST!" He huffs in frustration as he stuffs the photo in his pocket and walks around the island.

* * *

Rose flew over the shopping center when she spots Nami and Robin using the bubbles to carry their stuff. She lands right in front of them. "Hi guys."

"Hi Rose. What are you doing here?" Robin asks when Rose hands them both a photo.

"Just doing some photo deliveries. The picture of the crew turned out pretty good."

Nami snickers as she digs into her bag. "You're right, it does look good. I got a photo for you too."

Rose looks at her in confusion until Nami shows her a photo of her sleeping while snuggled up to a sleeping Luffy's chest with the both of them wearing soft grins as they wrap their arms around each other. Rose couldn't hide her blush as she looks at the photo. "What the hell?! You took this after I recovered from being a kid?!"

Nami nods. "Yup, you can have this but on one condition."

(I really don't like where this is going…) She stares at the ground nervously to avoid Nami and Robin's stares. "W-what's the condition?"

Nami devilishly smirks as she grabs Rose's wrist and takes her to a clothing shop with Robin giggling while following them.

* * *

"Come on out Rose." Nami says as she and Robin are waiting for Rose to come out of the changing room.

"No way! I feel silly! I'm changing ba- hey!"

Robin used her devil fruit powers to sprout arms into the changing room and throw Roses original clothes over the door for her and Nami to catch.

"This isn't funny guys!" Rose says.

"You can get your clothes back when you come out." Robin says causing Rose to unlock the door and walk out in jean shorts, a short light purple button up shirt dress with sleeves up to her elbows, a black belt around her stomach, black flats and her family's necklace.

She looks to the ground to hide her eyes with her bangs but couldn't hide the blush on her face. "You two happy now?"

Both of them giggle at Roses embarrassment.

"You look adorable Rose." Robin says.

"Just one more thing." Nami says as she hands Rose her clothes then goes behind her and puts her hair up in a ponytail with a floral hair tie that shows a purple flower in her hair. "Perfect, now that's cute."

Rose looks in the mirror to see the floral hair tie holding her ponytail. (Oh man… I feel so girly…)

Nami walks up behind her. "Now as for the agreement. You can't change back until tomorrow."

Rose turns to her tiredly. "I don't have a choice in this do I?"

Nami shakes her head. "Sorry. Don't worry I'm sure Luffy will find you cute."

Roses blush doubled as Nami went to the cashier to pay.

"So, what's going to happen today Rose?" Robin asks as she hands her the rest of her original clothes.

Rose froze for a moment before placing her clothes in her bag then grabs Robins arm and brings her to an empty changing room and closes the door behind her. "Robin…"

Robin quirks an eyebrow as Rose looks at her nervously.

"I-I can't tell you what will happen. But, please trust me in that what happens today will be for the good of the crew… I know I shouldn't ask you that but please..." Rose looks at the ground while clenching her fists.

Robin looks at her in surprise then hugs her. (It must be bad to make her so upset… If she doesn't want to prevent it then it must be for our own good…) "Ok, I'll trust you. If you know everything will be alright then I believe in you."

Rose quietly nods then hugs back while quietly letting some of her tears flow. "Thanks Robin."

When they let go of each other they hear Nami's voice. "Hey guys, where are you?"

Rose quickly wipes the tears and calls out. "We'll be right out." She starts walking out but stops and turns to Robin with a smile. "Thanks again Robin… For everything."

Robin smiles back at her as they walk out to catch up to Nami.

"Alright, here you go Rose." Nami hands her the photo causing Rose to quickly place it in her bag.

"So, you told Luffy that the kissing rule was fake?" Nami asks with clear disappointment in her voice.

"Yup, I had to clear it up sooner or later." Rose says as they start heading out of the store.

"Does this mean you realize that you don't have feelings for him or-"

Rose lifted a hand to stop Robin. "I-I do have feelings… For Luffy I mean…" Rose looks away with a blush on her face while trying to avoid Nami's excited stare.

"That's great! So, when are you going to tell him?"

She gives her a serious look. "Not happening."

Nami looks at her in confusion. "Why not? Since you know you have feelings for him it's all the better."

Rose shakes her head with a soft grin. "Sorry, it's better if I don't do it now. Don't say anything to him either got it?!" She points at Nami with a serious glare on her face.

Nami laughs at her defensiveness. "Relax; telling him is your job. I'll be cheering from the sidelines though."

Rose cautiously nods. "Alright…" She looks up at the clock. "Oh boy, I gotta catch up to the others at the theme park! I'll see you guys later!" She hurriedly waves them off and flies away while the two girls laugh at her excitement.

"I'm so glad Rose realized her feelings. I wish she would tell him though." Nami says causing Robin to nod.

"I'm sure she has her reasons. Don't worry if it looks like it's taking too slow we can give them a push." Robin says with Nami agreeing with a mischievous grin on her face as they continue shopping.

* * *

Rose starts flying to the amusement park to find Luffy, Chopper, Brook, Hacchi, and Camie heading for the roller coaster.

"Hey guys!" Rose calls out to them causing the group to turn to her then widen their eyes in utter shock.

Rose quirks an eyebrow. "What's the matter with-" She looks down and realizes that they're looking at her outfit. "Y-yea, this was Nami's doing. Don't ask."

"You look wonderful Rose-san! I can't resist asking! Would you let me see your panties?" Brook asks causing Rose to fly up and hit him in the head.

"Not happening."

"You look great!" Luffy says with a toothy grin while the others nod in agreement.

Rose lightly blushes and scratches her head nervously. "Th-thanks. Oh guys, here!" She digs into her bag for the photos while not noticing Luffy still staring at her.

(I feel weird again… I kind of like this weird though. It's happening a lot lately. Am I getting sick?!)

"Hey Luffy!" Luffy snaps out of his thoughts when Rose was up to his face. "You ok? I'm usually the one stuck in my thoughts. Here." She hands him his photo causing him to focus on that while avoiding her gaze.

"Th-thanks."

Rose blinks in surprise. (He's stuttering? I've never seen him like that before. Hehe, he's kinda cute.) "So, what rides are you guys heading to?"

"We're heading to the roller coaster next. Come on." Chopper says as they make their way to the rides.

"WHOA!" The group yells in excitement as they ride the roller coaster, the tea cups and the other fast moving rides.

"Hahaha! That was great." Luffy says as they take a break on a bench.

Rose nods in agreement. "Nothing beats an amusement park."

"Where should we go next?" Pappagg asks.

"How about the Ferris Wheel? Camie wants to go there correct?" Brook asks causing Camie to nod.

The group makes it over there and rides on with Luffy, Rose and Camie in one car while the others ride in another car.

"Wow! We're so high up!" Camie says as she rides with excitement.

"You're really that happy?" Luffy asks causing her to turn to them happily.

"Yea! I've always wanted to ride the Ferris wheel ever since I was small. The only reason Pappagg and Hacchi allowed me to come today was because of how strong you guys are. Thank you so much!"

Luffy nods with a grin. "Anytime Camie."

Rose looks at them with a soft grin. (I'm glad she's having fun. I wish everyone could just stay like this forever…) She looks outside softly for the remainder of the ride.

After the ride ends everyone meets back up.

"That was great." Brook says.

"Let's go on the other rides." Chopper says as they ride on almost every ride in the park. After a while they stop to take a break.

"You guys want some ice cream?" Rose asks as she points to an ice cream stand causing them all to nod.

"Camie, just wait right here." Hacchi says as he places her on the bench.

"I'll pick out a flavor for you." Pappagg says with her nodding.

"Pick a tasty one for me." Pappagg nods as the group goes and choose their flavors.

Rose grabs her vanilla ice cream while the others grab their ice cream. (This is pretty good. Wait…) Rose freezes at the realization that it's time for Camie to get kidnapped and turns to see her gone. (Oh crap!) "Guys, we lost Camie!"

"WHAT?!" The guys turn in shock to see her gone and look around for her frantically.

Rose flies up in the air to try and find them but there's no sight of Camie and the slave traders. (Man, those guys are fast! Looks like it's time now.) "I can't see them. I'm gonna go search for her."

"Take me with you!" Luffy says.

"Us too!" Hacchi and Pappagg say.

Rose nods "Alright, Chopper and Brook I want you guys to call the ship and tell them what happened."

Chopper and Brook nod as she sends the others flying with her to search the island for Camie.

* * *

Rose, Luffy, Hacchi and Pappagg have just left another human shop in frustration after not being able to find Camie inside.

(*Sigh* I can't remember which grove the auction house is… Even if I did I should keep my mouth shut anyway…) Rose pushes her bangs back in frustration when Pappagg started crying.

"Damnit, it's all my fault! I shouldn't have brought her to the amusement park. It's a kidnapper's favorite spot!"

Luffy looks at him in confusion. "But Camie was so happy. Wasn't it fine?"

"No, it's not fine! For a mermaid or a Fishman coming to this island is dangerous! But Hacchi wanted to help you guys!"

"That's enough Pappagg!" Hacchi says.

"Why isn't it ok Hacchi?" Luffy asks

"Because of the Fishman discrimination." Rose says causing Pappagg to nod.

"Discrimination?" Luffy asks.

"I should have explained how this island is and made sure Camie didn't come here." Pappagg keeps crying in frustration.

(I'm sorry Pappagg...) Rose looks at him softly and pats him on the head.

"I'm sorry Straw Hat. I wanted to help you but I only caused more trouble." Hacchi says.

"What are you saying?! You didn't do anything wrong! You guys are our friends! We'll save Camie no matter what so stop crying!" Luffy says.

Rose nods while Pappagg calms down when the fish riders arrive.

"Guys! We heard what happened! We can take you to where Camie is!" One of the fish riders call out.

"Thanks guys!" Rose says as she and the others hop onto a different flying fish and go to find Camie.

* * *

"Are you really willing to buy Camie back Nami?" Hacchi asks as he, Pappagg, Nami, Chopper, Franky, Rose, and Sanji start making their way to the auction house.

Nami nods. "If it's to get back our friend then money is no object. Are you guys ok with this?"

Chopper nods as he goes into heavy point. "Money's no object."

"It's the least we can do to get her back." Franky says.

"As long as we get Camie back it'll work out." Rose says. (Looks like everything is working out like in the manga. I just gotta lay low.)

The group nods in agreement as they get inside to see the head auctioneer: Disco announces another slave.

Rose look arounds and sees Shachi, Penguin and Bepo waving at her. She quietly waves back until Law looks at her then glares at his crew members to stop waving then turns his attention back to the auction. (Are all Supernovas hard to read? Oh well.) She shrugs her shoulders as she keeps looking around to see Eustass Kid staring at the group with a smirk. (Right, Kid's here too… I know he's not our enemy now, but I still don't trust him.) She freezes when the main doors open to a chubby world nobleman with black hair and snot hanging from his nose walking inside with the guard Rose had beaten up.

(Crap! The goon woke up! I can't let him recognize me.) She quietly moves to the opposite side of the group and makes it so that Chopper blocks their view of her.

"You ok Rose?" Chopper whispers.

Rose nods. "I'm ok doc. I kind of beat a guy up and he's here, so can you stay still so he doesn't see me and cause a scene?"

Chopper nods in understanding. "No problem."

The group watches as the Celestial Dragon and the guard are escorted to their seat in the front of the room.

Rose quietly sighs in relief. "Thanks doc." (That was close. I better stay hidden behind Chopper until the bidding ends.)

"KYAA!" Everyone looks in shock to see that the pirate about to be sold bit his tongue off.

"I can't believe it." Nami says.

"Rather than living the life of a slave he chose to die. He might have made the right choice." Sanji says.

"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN SORRY FOR THE SCARE! THE ITEM I AM ABOUT TO BRING OUT WILL BLOW AWAY ALL OF YOUR TROUBLES IN AN INSTANT!" Disco announces as the shadow of a mermaid in a giant fish bowl is shown behind the curtain. "PLEASE LOOK AT THIS SILOUETTE! I WON'T SAY ANYMORE, FOR YOU CAN SEE IT WITH YOUR EYES! ALL THE WAY FROM FISHMAN ISLAND! CAMIE THE MERMAID!" Disco pulls away the curtain to reveal Camie with a neck collar and chains around her wrists trapped in the fish bowl.

"Camie!" Hacchi says while the others look at the fish bowl and get ready to bid.

"With 200 million we'll get her back." Nami says.

Camie lights up as she sees the group in the back.

"500 MILLION BELI!" The black haired Celestial Dragon yells causing the entire room to look at him in shock.

Camie tries yelling but the fish bowl blocks out her voice.

Nami looks at the announcer with horror. "We don't have that kind of money..."

"Is there anything we can do Sanji?" Chopper asks.

Sanji looks at the stage with dread while smoking. "I never imagined this would happen. We were only counting our money problems but now this is much worse."

"What are we going to do?" Franky says.

Hacchi starts getting worked up. "If it comes down to it I'll take her by force and escape to the ocean.

"UNBELIEVABLE WE RECEIVED A 500 MILLION BID! ANYONE WISH TO GO HIGHER?! ANYONT AT ALL?!" Disco announces with excitement for a second until pointing to Camie. "TIME'S UP! TODAY'S BIG PRIZE CAMIE THE MERMAID WAS WON BY THE CELESTIAL DRAGON ST. CHARLOSS!"

"WAAAH!" Luffy yells as he, Zoro and a fish rider crash into the building.

"Guys!" The crew call out to them as they recover from the rubble.

"What the hell was that?! Couldn't you land better?!' Luffy says to the fish rider.

"How could I have landed better when your friend jumped onto the fish?!"

"I just heard "get on" so I did. Oh hey, you guys are here." Zoro says as he turns to the group.

Luffy turns to the stage and sees Camie. "Camie!"

"Luffy!" Camie calls out but she can't be heard.

"Hang on Camie!" Luffy runs up to the stage but was being held back by Hacchi. As he was pulling Luffy back his extra arms are revealed showing everyone that he's a fish man.

"KYAAAH! A FISHMAN!" The crowd yells as they jeer at Hacchi and starts throwing things at him but the wind lightly moved the items to make them miss him.

(These guys really piss me off!) Rose focuses her wind lightly to make the items miss Hacchi while holding back her temper until she heard gunshots being heard and looks up to see Hacchi has been shot by Saint Charloss.

"HACCHI!" The crew yells when Hacchi collapses with bullet wounds on his torso while the auctioneers look like they're happy that Hacchi was shot.

"Mufufufu! I caught a fish man! Yippee! I got a fish man slave for free!" Saint Charloss is dancing with joy.

Luffy clenches his fists in rage and starts walking up to Saint Charloss until Hacchi grabs his arm while panting. "Wait… *Pant*… Straw Hat… Don't get mad… *Pant*… It was my fault… You promised remember? *Cough*… That even if someone was shot in front of you that you wouldn't attack a Celestial Dragon… I've done bad things in my life… *Pant* This is my punishment… I'm sorry… I didn't mean for this to happen… I only wanted to make it up to Nami…"

"Hachi…" Nami cover her mouth while trying to hold back the tears while everyone else is holding back their anger.

"In the end though… *Cough* I just caused trouble… I'm so sorry…" Hacchi couldn't hold back his tears while Saint Charloss looks at him furiously.

"Damn Fishman. I shot you and yet you're still talking! You piss me off!" Saint Charloss aims his gun at Hacchi but Luffy blocks him while furiously glaring at him.

Luffy starts slowly walking up to Saint Charloss while not taking his glare off of him.

"STRAW HAT! DON'T DO IT! IT WILL ONLY LEAD TO TROUBLE!" Pappagg yells but Luffy keeps going.

The other crewmembers watch in silence while accepting their captain's decision.

(Don't hold back captain.) Rose clenches her fists as she watches Luffy approach him.

"You piss me off too! Go die!" Saint Charloss tries to shoot Luffy but he dodges the bullets.

Luffy growls while pulling his arm back and punches Saint Charloss in the face and sends him flying to the wall causing everyone in the room to be in utter shock while the other Celestial Dragons call the marines.

TO BE CONTINUED


	21. Chapter 21

All of the auctioneers stare at the knocked out Celestial Dragon in shock while the pirates look at him in acceptance of Luffy's action.

Luffy cracks his knuckles as he turns to the group. "Sorry guys. I heard that if I hit that guy an admiral would be coming."

Zoro sighs in disappointment. "Thanks to you sending him flying I couldn't cut him myself."

Nami runs over to Hacchi's side. "Hang on Hacchi."

"What have you guys done?!" Hacchi says

"We can't help it when it comes to Luffy." Nami says.

"What do we do now?" Franky asks

"We need to get Camie's collar from backstage." Chopper says causing Franky to nod.

Camie and Pappagg watch the group in awe.

(There's no turning back now… At least I can enjoy this fight.) Rose cracks her knuckles while another Celestial Dragon stands up furiously.

"HOW DARE YOU COMMONERS ATTACK MY SON?!" He starts shooting at the crew causing the auctioneers to duck. "WE ARE THE DESCENDANTS OF THE CREATORS OF THIS WORLD! DO YOU KNOW WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO US?!"

Sanji kicks the gun out of his hands causing the surrounding guards to charge at him. "GET AWAY FROM SAINT ROSWALD!"

"Guys, get Camie!" Sanji fights off some of the guards while the others fight their way through and Franky runs backstage.

The guard that was with Saint Charloss goes to attack Sanji from behind until he feels someone tapping his shoulder. He turns to see Rose smirking at him with one of her arms as a twister. "Remember me?"

"Oh shi-" She sends him flying with an twister uppercut as the auctioneers start running away while the guards keep coming.

The rest of the crew fights off the guards to rescue Camie while Rose attacks the guards that were charging after Chopper and Hacchi. "How are his wounds doc?"

Chopper inspects his wounds and stops the bleeding while ignoring the guards Rose is fighting off. "He's going to be ok for now, but we need to get him away from the crossfire and treated once we get Camie.

Rose nods as she keeps fighting off the guards.

Saint Roswald along with his daughter Saint Shalulia look at the fighting pirates in irritation while Law and Kid's crew enjoy the show.

"YOU WORTHLESS PIRATES! CALL AN ADMIRAL AT ONCE!" Saint Roswald yells causing some of the guards to escape to make the call.

"360 Caliber Phoenix!" Zoro slices through the top half of the fish bowl causing there to be an opening in the bowl for Camie to speak to the others again.

"JUST WAIT RIGHT THERE CAMIE!" Hacchi yells out.

Camie nods. "Ok Hacchin! Thank you!"

*CRASH* Everyone looks up to see the fish riders flying into the auction house and dropping off the remaining Straw Hats.

"Go get them Brook!" The fish rider says as Brook jumps off the fish.

"Be careful Robin!" Another one says as she jumps off.

"Beat them up Usopp!" The last one says as he pushes Usopp off the fish.

"WHEN DID I SAY YOU CAN PUSH ME?!"

Saint Roswald clenches his teeth in frustration. "When I get my hands on these pirates, I'll have the women stuffed and the men worked to the bone!"

"I wouldn't be so sure old man." Rose says as she points up causing him to look up just before Usopp landed on him and knocked him out. (Nice landing Usopp!)

"FATHER!" Saint Shalulia yells in shock as she watches everyone fight.

"Sorry mister." Usopp says as he gets up. "Luffy, where's Camie?"

"She's on the stage! We need to get the bomb off of her neck then get out of here! The marines will be here any minute!"

"The marines are already here Straw Hat-ya." Luffy turns to Law who's causally watching the show. "The marines have been here since the auction started and they've surrounded the whole auction house. I don't know who they wanted to catch but I bet they never dreamed of someone attacking a Celestial Dragon."

"You must be Trafalgar Law… Luffy, this man is another pirate with more than 100 million bounty." Robin says.

"Really?!" Luffy looks at him in shock.

Law nods then chuckles. "Fufu, you and your crewmates have shown me some interesting things today." (First the wind girl and then this guy. These guys are entertaining.)

"WAIT PRINCESS SHALULIA! I DIDN'T RECEIVE THE PAYMENT YET!" Disco yells as Shalulia walks up to Camie with a gun in her hand.

"Shut up commoner! I'm going to kill the mermaid they're trying to save."

"I don't think that's wise princess." Rose turned her body into wind and materialized in front of her onstage causing her to jump back in shock.

"You filthy witch! You'll die first!" She points her gun at Rose causing her to get ready to fight when all of a sudden the Celestial Dragon falls unconscious.

"PRINCESS SHALULIA!" Disco yells out in concern while the crew looks at Rose in shock.

"YOU CAN KNOCK PEOPLE OUT WITH YOUR GLARE?!" Luffy yells

"I DIDN'T DO IT!" Rose yells out.

"You see my giant friend. This place is messed up. The auction's over and I only got a small amount of money. Oh well, it's still good for gambling." Everyone looks in shock to see an old man and a giant tear through the curtain and walk onto the stage.

"You are one messed up old man. You let yourself get caught in order to steal some money?" The giant asks.

The old man nods as he takes a swig from his flask. "Well, I was hoping to steal from the people that bought me too. But now that I think about it who would want an old man for a slave? Hahahaha!"

(Awesome! Silvers Rayleigh is here!) Rose grins as Rayleigh sees everyone look at him in shock.

"R-RAYLEIGH?!" Hacchi yells in shock.

"The coating guy is here?! Which one?!" Chopper asks.

Rayleigh's face lights up as he sees Hacchi. "Hey Hacchi! It's been a while! Wait, where did you get those wounds? Ah, never mind, no need to say it. You pirates helped him out? In that case…" Rayleigh activates his conquerors haki and knocks out all of the guards in the room.

""WHAT THE HELL DID HE DO?!" Usopp yells.

"Just who is this old guy?" Sanji asks

Rayleigh ignores their shocked faces and looks at Luffy. "That straw hat suits a fearless man like you. I've been wanting to meet you Monkey D. Luffy."

"You have?" Luffy asks

Rayleigh nods. "Yea, but we can talk about that later."

Rose looks at the knocked out guards in excitement. (Whoa! So that's how fully trained haki looks up close. That's really cool! Wait, I didn't pass out?! Whoa! Hey, I wonder if I could-) Rose snaps out of her thoughts when she notices Rayleigh staring at her with a friendly grin.

"Now this has been an interesting day. Never thought I'd see someone like you here."

(WHAT?! Does he sense something about me?!) Rose looks at him nervously until he laughs.

"My bad, I was thinking of someone else. My eyes must be messing with me. Oh well." He walks past her to get to the fish bowl.

Rose rubs her temples in frustration as she watches Rayleigh start working on Camie's collar. (Did he really sense something or… No, he did. Rayleigh's not wrong about these things. Was it his observation haki?)

"OI GRAMPS! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! THOSE COLLARS ARE MEANT TO EXPLODE!" Pappagg yells snapping Rose out her thoughts as the others look in shock that Rayleigh is messing with Camie's collar.

"Don't worry guys, Rayleigh knows what he's doing." Rose says causing the crew to calm down while Law quirks an eyebrow.

(How strange… The Dark King definitely sensed something about Rose. She gets more interesting by the-) Law snaps out of his thoughts to see Rayleigh manage to take Camie's collar off and throw it in the air just before it blew up.

"I can't believe it! He got it off!" Nami says.

"I'm impressed he got them off with his bare hands." Brook says.

Franky walks back to the stage with the keys. "Just when I got the keys too… Oh well." He tosses the keys to the other slaves. "Hey, soon to be slaves. The buyers ran away so run while you can."

"THANK YOU!" The slaves cry with joy as they unlock their cuffs.

"I still can't believe he took out all those guards by himself. Does he have a devil fruit or something Luffy?" Zoro asks.

"I don't know him." Luffy says

"Never thought I'd meet someone like him here." Law says.

Eustass Kid looks at Rayleigh with a smirk. "There's no mistake that you're Silvers Rayleigh. What's a legendary man like you doing here?"

"On this island. I just own a coating shop. Just call me Ray here. I'd rather have the marines stay off my tail." He walks up to Hacchi and checks his wounds. "Don't go dying on me now Hacchi. How many times have I told you to stay away from this island?"

"Sorry Rayleigh."

Rayleigh turns to the group. "Thanks for helping my friend. We can talk more later, but we have to get out of here first."

"ATTENTION PIRATES! RELEASE THE ROSWALD FAMILY AT ONCE! I SUGGEST YOU SURRENDER NOW BEFORE THE ADMIRAL ARRIVES! YOU'RE IN OVER YOUR HEAD ROOKIES!" The Marines shout out.

(It's too dangerous to snap a tornado at them. Fighting our way out will be best.) Rose flies up to the group while Franky gets Camie out of the fish tank and carries her to the group.

Law starts getting up with a smirk. "In any case we're involved now."

Kid snickers as he makes his way to the door. "I have no complaints since I got to see Straw Hat do something crazy. The longer we wait in here the more soldiers will arrive so I'll be leaving first. I'll even take care of the guys out front, so you guys rest here."

Law and Luffy start getting angry as they catch up to Kid.

(Hahaha! This fight will be fun.) Rose smirks with excitement when Nami turns to her.

"Rose, we need you to take Chopper, Hacchi, Pappagg and Camie to safety while we keep the marines busy."

She deflates at the request but nods. (Aww, then I can't fight… Oh well. Camie and Hacchi come first.) "Not a problem. Just give me the signal for when I should fly out with them. You want a ride back too Rayleigh?"

He nods. "Appreciated. When you guys manage to escape, meet me at Shakki's bar in Grove 13."

Zoro nods. "Got it."

"Can I go with Rose?" Usopp asks.

"You're fighting too!" Franky says as he hands Camie to Chopper after he went to heavy point.

Rayleigh turns to the giant. "Hey giant, what about you?"

"I'll stay and help the other slaves escape. Straw Hat Pirates! If I ever see you again I promise to repay this debt! Thank you!"

Usopp nods. "It was nothing."

"What did you do?" Sanji asks.

"We should get going. Rose, when Long Nose creates an exploding star is when you fly out." Robin says causing the others to agree as they start making their way out.

Rose gets Chopper, Hacchi, Camie, Pappagg, and Rayleigh floating as they wait by the doorway. "Once we get the signal we fly out immediately."

"USOPP EXPLODING STAR!" Usopp fires an exploding star causing the 6 of them to fly out and look below to see them fight.

(I so wanna fight…) Rose looks down in disappointment when she sees some of the marines running after them. "DON'T LET WIND RIDER ESCA-" Shachi and Penguin attack the marines from behind.

"KEEP GOING ROSE!" Shachi yells with a thumbs up then they turn to see Rose launched a twister punch at the marines about to attack them from behind.

"THANKS GUYS! GOOD LUCK!" Rose yells with a thumbs up as she flies away from the auction house.

"You know those guys Rose?" Chopper asks.

"Yea, we fought some bounty hunters together. They're good guys. Rayleigh, which way's Grove 13?"

He points at the right direction until she safely brings them to Shakki's bar.

* * *

After the crew made it to the bar they listened intently to Rayleigh's story about Roger and how Shanks was a part of their crew.

"SHANKS WORKED WITH THE PIRATE KING?!" Luffy yells in shock

Rayleigh nods as he finishes his alcohol. "I saw him ten years ago missing both his straw hat and his left arm. When I asked him what happened he looked happy and spoke about you. I'm sure he's waiting for you in the New World right now."

"Really?! I want to see him too."

Rose grins at his excitement as she drinks her soda. (I'd love to meet Shanks too. Who knows? Maybe after the war I can talk to him.)

Rayleigh stands up and turns to the crew. "Now then, let's get down to business. You guys want me to coat your boat right? Since you guys helped Hacchi I won't charge you."

"That's generous of you. Thanks." Sanji says.

Robin stands up. "Rayleigh, there's something I want to ask you. Just what is 'the will of D'? When we were in Skypiea I saw a poneglyph with Roger's name on it. Do you know what happened during the void century?"

Rayleigh nods. "We do… But, you shouldn't rush into things. Even if I told you. As you are now you wouldn't be able to do anything about it. You should take your time after you've seen the world. If you wish to know now however, I can tell you everything."

Robin stares at him for a moment before smiling. "No, I'll continue my journey."

Usopp looks at her in surprise. "Are you really ok with this Robin?! You're letting a huge opportunity go here!" He stands up. "Old man. I have a question about the One Piece! Is it really at the-"

"USOPP!" Luffy yells causing everyone to turn to him in shock. "I don't want to hear where the treasure is! I don't even want to know if it exists or not! If the old man tells us anything I'll quit being a pirate! I don't want to go on a boring adventure like that!"

Rose softly grins as she relaxes and finishes her soda. (Hehe, that's Luffy for ya. He'll find out that the One Piece exists anyway so I'd better stay quiet.)

"I'm sorry! I get it! I'll keep quiet!" Usopp says causing Shakki to laugh while Rayleigh chuckles.

"Do you think you can do it? What the Grand Line has in store is beyond your imagination. Can you control the sea?" Rayleigh asks.

"I don't want to control the sea. The pirate king is just the freest man on the sea."

"Is that so… Alright then, your ship's on Grove 41 right? I'll go check it out. What about you guys? An admiral should be on the island soon."

Nami looks down in thought. "If we stay here we'll just attract trouble so how about we go shopping?"

"WHAT'S WITH THE EASY GOING ATTITUDE?!" Usopp yells in shock.

"She's got a point though; if we stay here they might come after you guys. It might be best if we escape into town." Franky says.

"How about we split up?" Zoro asks

Rayleigh turns to Shakki. "Are there anymore vivre cards left?"

Shakki nods as she smokes her cigarette. "Yup, one sheet." She goes under the bar and grabs the sheet.

Rayleigh splits it into 10 pieces and hands them to the crew. "I need three days to work on the coating. Afterwards you guys can use the vivre card to find the ship with the coating done. Until then you guys should get ready for Fishman Island."

The others nod in agreement.

"Thanks for everything guys." Camie says with Pappagg nodding.

"I'm sorry for the trouble. Thanks again for all of your help." Hacchi says

"Don't worry about it Hacchi. Get plenty of rest." Chopper says.

"We'll see you guys around." Luffy says as he and the crew leaves.

Rose walks slowly and starts falling behind the group while not paying attention to what the others are saying. (… It's time for the fight. When Kuma arrives I need to somehow get him to send me somewhere close.)

Luffy looks back to see Rose getting left behind and goes back for her while the others walk ahead. "Hey Rose, you ok? You gotta walk faster!"

She snaps out of her thoughts and grins at him. "Yea, I'm ok. Sorry about that Luffy."

"Come on, we should catch up to the others."

She nods "Right…"

They start walking to catch up to the others when Luffy wraps his hand around hers.

She looks at his hand in shock while lightly blushing. (Luffy?) "Is everything alright?"

(The good weird feeling came back. I wanna ask her about it.) He nods. "Yea, I just wanted to do this. Hey Rose, can I ask you something?"

"You just did."

He stops walking while slightly pouting. "Rose~"

She giggles at his childishness. "Sorry, sorry. What is it?"

"You said two people in a couple have strong feelings for each other right? What do those feelings feel like?"

(Why does he want to know that?! What do I even say here?! I guess some examples won't hurt…) She looks at him nervously. "W-well… These feelings happen mostly in your chest. When you're with that person and see them happy you feel great. When you see the person sad you want to do whatever you can to cheer them up until they put their cute goofy smiles back on. Sometimes even just thinking about that person will make you smile and u-umm…. Why do you want to know so badly anyway?!"

(That sounds like what I feel around Rose! Does Rose feel like this too?) "…" He stares at the ground quietly causing her to look at him in shock.

(Hold on, no way! Luffy's in love?! Who's the lucky-) She looks down at their intertwining hands and finally puts two and two together. (Oh crap! We're-)

"AAAH!" The other crewmembers scream in the distance causing them to snap out of their thoughts.

"Oh no! Come on!" Rose uses her wind to send the two of them flying and starts heading to the group while still holding on to Luffy's hand. (What should I do now?! It might hurt him more to leave him all confused now… You know what? Screw it!) "Luffy, those feelings… They're nothing to be ashamed of... Especially since the other person feels them too!"

He looks at her in shock. "Really?! You do too-"

She cuts him off as she leans in and captures his lips in a short but sweet kiss then pulls away with a soft grin. "Yea, I do. I'll tell you about it later. Right now, let's go kick some ass!"

He blinks in surprise before giving her the largest grin she's ever seen on him. "Let's go!"

* * *

Rose and Luffy fly in to see the group facing off against Kuma.

"Who's that?" Luffy asks as they land and let go of each other's hands.

"Luffy, be careful! This guy's a shichibukai!" Sanji says as he dodges a beam.

"What the hell?! Since when could he shoot a beam?!" Usopp says.

Luffy looks at them in shock. "A shichibukai?! What's he doing here?! How do you guys know him?!"

"We faced him after you passed out in Thriller Bark." Rose says as she turns her arm into a twister.

"This was the guy?!" Luffy asks

"Yea, he attacked us with the shockwaves from the paws on the palms on his hands! He must've came back to finish us off!" Chopper says.

"Like I'd let that happen. COUP DE VENT!" Franky shoots a coup de vent at his stomach while Rose flews up to him as he kept his ground.

"TWISTER PUNCH!" She launched a twister punch at him that makes him stagger back when Luffy goes into second gear and sends him flying with a jet pistol.

Kuma looks at him in surprise.

"I know you're strong so I'm gonna go all out from the start!" Luffy says as he, Rose, Sanji and Zoro charge at him.

"Diamble Jambe!"

"360 Caliber Phoenix!"

"Gum Gum Jet Pistol!"

"Twister Punch!"

The attacks send him flying into a nearby building.

"Something's different about him." Zoro says.

"You noticed too? I think he's a copy of Kuma. " Rose says

"What do you mean he's a copy?" Luffy asks

"If this was really Kuma he would've deflected out attacks with his devil fruit ability. This leads to problems though. That means that there are at least two people with his strength." Sanji says.

Kuma managed to get back up with the rest of the crew charging at him. He attacked Zoro and sent him flying until Rose caught him and placed him on the ground as he staggered up.

(Crap! Zoro hasn't fully healed yet…) Rose continued attacking as Chopper charges after eating a rumble ball.

"Hoof Print Roseo!" Chopper attacks causing Kuma to grab him as Franky punches him.

"Strong Right!" Franky punches him causing him to let go of Chopper while Franky keeps punching him out until he gets punched in the face and sent flying.

Robin catches him with her devil fruit powers while Brook attacks him but his attack wasn't any good against his body.

"Usopp Exploding Star!" Before Kuma can attack Brook Usopp fires an exploding star while they retreat.

Kuma turns to find Nami running towards him but before he can fire a beam from his mouth Robin sprouted hands on him and forced his mouth shut causing him to fire the beam in his mouth.

"Let's finish this! Thunder Tempo!" Nami strikes him with her thunder lance causing him to start going out of control.

"Guys, take cover!" Rose sends the others flying out of the way while Sanji, Zoro, and Luffy finish him off.

"Diable Jambe!"

"Asura Makyusen!"

"THIRD GEAR! GUM GUM GIANT PISTOL!" Luffy crushes him with his giant arm and finished him as he shrunk while the others slumped from exhaustion.

Everyone laid down to regain their energy while Rose and Sanji examined the copy.

"You find anything?" Robin asks.

Sanji nods. "I found a label: PX-4."

Rose looks at the Pacifista in thought. "He's definitely a cyborg but stronger than Franky. Since he's PX-4 it's safe to guess that there's more than one of these copies."

"WHAT?!" Everyone looks at her in shock.

"We should rest for a moment. I didn't expect us to be fighting at full strength." Luffy says as his body returns to normal.

Zoro catches his breath while looking at Rose. (Rose expected this though… I knew it! Why didn't she stop us from coming here?!) He clenches his teeth in frustration as he tries to get up but stops to see Rose snapping up a small tornado in the middle of the clearing.

"Whoa, what are you doing Rose?! Those tornadoes are dangerous!" Usopp says

"Trust me." Rose says as she used her wind to lift the group off the ground away from the tornado.

"JUST WHAT HAVE YOU GUYS DONE?! THAT PACIFISTA COSTS THE SAME AS A BATTLESHIP!" The crew looks up in shock to see Sentomaru and another Pacifista jump down only to be swallowed by the growing tornado. "WAAAH!"

Chopper turns to Rose impressed as she sends the group flying away from them a few feet in the air. "That was awesome Rose!"

Robin looks at her curiously. (What's the thing she doesn't want to prevent?)

Rose nods as she looks ahead. "Thanks, but it won't hold them for long. We gotta-"

"OOH! I'm impressed you managed to catch my nephew off guard outsider." Kizaru materializes in front of her causing her to use her wind to throw the group to the opposite side of the clearing as Kizaru blasted her with his devil fruit power and slammed her to the ground.

"Kizaru's the admiral?!" Robin looks at him in shock as she and the others get up and rush to help Rose.

(Ack! Kizaru, you big ape! I'd rather fight him than the lava mutt though.) Rose staggers up and turns to the group. "GUYS! LEAVE HIM TO ME! HE'S A LOGIA USER TOO! GET YOURSELVES OUT OF HERE!"

The others look at her in shock.

"ARE YOU CRAZY?! YOU REMEMBER THE LAST TIME YOU FACED AN ADMIRAL?!" Nami yells.

"I'M STRONGER THAN LAST TIME! BESIDES, YOUR ATTACKS WON'T HIT HIM! GET GOING!" Rose flies in front of Kizaru and faces off against him while the others turn to see a half worn out Sentomaru and Pacifista start catching up to them.

(Rose…) Luffy turns to the group. "Guys! Split up and run! Focus on getting to safety! I'm gonna back up Rose!"

The others were reluctant but nod as they start running with Sentomaru and the Pacifista chasing them.

* * *

"TWISTER BARRAGE" Rose flew above him and attacked him with a giant twister.

He shakes his head in disappointment as he takes the blow. "I'm disappointed you don't realize our difference in strength." Kizaru turned his body into light and flashed out of the tornado and materialized right behind her and blasted her to the ground before she could react. "Light is faster than wind you know."

She's having a hard time getting back up as she pants. "I know, but until the others escape I won't stop." (As long as I can lower the damage the others take before Kuma comes I'm satisfied.)

He chuckles at her attempt. "Are all outsiders like you? Or are we just unlucky?"

She snickers as she manages to get halfway up while panting. "Your masters on top should be happy to know that I'm one of a kind."

"Good to know." He creates a light sword and gets ready to attack her.

"GUM GUM GATLING!" Luffy attacks him but his fists go straight through him.

Kizaru shoots Luffy with a beam with his free hand while swinging his light sword at her but gets blocked by Rayleigh's sword.

"So you're making an appearance Dark King Rayleigh." Kizaru says as he gets ready to fight him

"You shouldn't be attacking kids before it's their time in this era." Rayleigh says as he grins.

"Old man! Thanks for the help!" Luffy recovers and takes Rose by the hand and starts running with her.

"Thanks Rayleigh!" Rose sends the two of them flying. "Where are the others?"

"Everyone's getting away right now!"

"WAAH!" They look to see Sentomaro facing Sanji, Nami, Franky, and Chopper while the Pacifista attacks the others at the opposite side of the clearing.

"Luffy, you go help Sanji's group! I'll go help Zoro's side!" Rose goes to take her hand back but Luffy keeps a hold of it.

"When you're with the group focus on getting to safety."

She grins as she nods. "Alright captain. Good luck." (I'll see you at Marineford…) She gives his hand a tight squeeze before letting it go and lands him near his group as she grabs her staff and flies to the Pacifista. "WIND BLADE!"

She slashes at the robot but it manages to stay standing while Usopp, Zoro, Robin and Brook look at her in shock as they pant from exhaustion.

"What happened with Kizaru?" Robin asks.

"Rayleigh's fighting him right now."

"Rayleigh's here?" Zoro asks causing her to nod.

"Yea, but let's focus on getting out of here." The group nods as they start running but the robot aimed a beam at them. (Crap!) Rose sends her group flying far enough to barely take the blast.

"Rose-san, you shouldn't overdo it with your wind." Brook says causing her to nod.

The Pacifista keeps going after them while Rose gets ready to fight. (I don't know how much more I can take.)

"Wait, PX-1." The group turns to see another Kuma walking up behind them.

(It's time…) Rose glares at him. "Guys, it's the real one!"

"WHAT?! We have to deal with the real one now too?!" Usopp says as he trembles.

The real Kuma walks up to Zoro who's struggling to stay standing. "So you're alive, Roronoa."

"Thanks to your mercy…" Zoro says

"This isn't the time for chit chat!" Usopp says.

Kuma takes off his glove while the others get nervous. "If you were to take a trip where would you go?"

Before Zoro could answer Kuma uses his devil fruit powers to make him disappear.

"ZORO!" The others yell while Rose clenches her teeth.

Robin looks at Rose in shock. (This is what Rose didn't want to prevent?! She wants us to disappear?!) She tries to use her hands against Kuma but he quickly gets out of her grasp.

"WHAT DID YOU DO TO ZORO?!" Usopp yells as the Pacifista gets another beam ready.

"Usopp-san, we need to-" Brook cuts himself off as he and the others look to see that Kuma made the Pacifista disappear.

(Now's my chance!) "GUYS! GET TO SAFETY!" Rose sends her group flying a few feet away from them then creates a wind barrier around her and Kuma. She clenches onto her staff while glaring at Kuma. "Even though everyone can see us through the barrier they can't hear us so please hear me out."

He keeps a stoic face while he nods then the two face off.

"First off, I know who you are and what you're really doing here." She hits him on the head but he's unfazed by it as he attacks her with a shockwave, but she dodges. "On behalf of the crew I want to thank you for getting everyone out of danger. I'm still pissed that you almost killed one of my friends but this makes up for it. Do you still take location requests?"

He punches her but she makes his fist go through her. "I do." He deflects her twister kick then blocks her staff.

"Then please, send me somewhere close enough to get to Marineford in time for the war!"

He widens his eyes in shock but his face doesn't show it as they keep fighting. "Are you sure?"

She nods as she keeps her glare while trying to hit him. "Even if you have to send me to Impel Down I won't complain. In fact, I want to go there!" (If I go to Impel Down I might be able to stop Luffy's lifespan from getting cut 10 years.)

(This girl…) He hits her with a shockwave that sends her flying back but she managed to stop before she could hit the barrier. "… Very well. I will make sure you're close enough to make it to the war."

She suppressed a smile while getting ready to charge. "Thank you Kuma." She charges at him as he gets ready to send her flying.

"You need to know one thing though."

She quirks an eyebrow as she jumps to swing her staff at him. "What is it?"

"If you want your origins kept a secret then stay away from Marineford."

She froze in shock for a second then swings her staff as Kuma used his devil fruit powers to make her disappear causing her barrier to subside.

Everyone in the crew looks at Kuma in utter shock while Luffy looks at him in horror. "ROSE!"

* * *

Three days have passed since the fight in Sabaody Archipelago. Today, chaos is erupting on a mining island called Talon Island where half red half black crystals fill the walls of the mines. The World Government has the mine heavily guarded and is treated as a fortress for criminals whose crimes aren't severe enough for Impel Down. Right now five guards have two escaped convicts cornered under the open hole of the crater island. One of them is a middle aged muscular man with tan skin, yellow hair with a grey streak, and black eyes. The other is a girl in her early twenties with long red hair, blue eyes and pale skin.

"You've got nowhere to run Alun D. Flint, and Abbelli D. Emma. Just give up now and your punishment won't be so bad." The leader of the prison Spandine says as he steps up to them with a smirk.

"Like we'd surrender to a loser like you old man!" Emma says as she flips him off.

Flint chuckles at her behavior. "As my apprentice said we're not surrendering. Besides, I'd rather not surrender to someone whose family's reputation was ruined by a recorded conversation. Wahahaha! This dungeon is suited for a failure like you!" He smirks while getting ready to fight.

Spandine grits his teeth in irritation. (I'm a man who commands respect damnit! If that miserable pirate Catone Rose hadn't sent my son Spandam to prison with that tone dial I wouldn't have been demoted! Now I have to start all over! If I ever see that outsider I'll be sure to-)

"LOOK OUT BELOW!" Both of the convicts and the guards look up in confusion to find Rose falling through the hole and landing on top of Spandine and the guards as the pressure from Kuma's attack knocks them out.

Both Emma and Flint look at her in shock as she gets up and looks around the mines in irritation. "That damn panda bear! This isn't Impel Down!"

TO BE CONTINUED


	22. Chapter 22

Emma and Flint couldn't take their eyes off the strange girl as she looks around the mines in irritation while supporting herself with her staff. (Damnit, I can't believe Kuma! Then again, I guess he didn't actually say Impel Down… It would've been hard for him to send just me there without raising more suspicion on him so I guess I understand... I hope he at least brought me somewhere close to Marineford...)

"Any idea who she is Flint?" Emma asks.

He shakes his head but freezes when he sees her necklace then walks up to her.

Rose quirks an eyebrow at him. "Can I help you- OI!" He grabs her necklace but lets go when she punches him in the nose then flips him over her shoulder. "Don't touch the necklace! Where am I any-" She cuts herself off as she looks at the crystals on the walls of the mines and looks at the crystal in her necklace to see that they match. "Holy crap! This is the Talon mines?!"

Emma nods. "How do you know about this place?"

"I learned about it from this secret page of an encyclopedia."

"Ah, so you're a fan of my work huh?" Flint says as he brushes himself off.

"What do you mean a fan of-"

"EVERYONE! THERE ARE THE CONVICTS! THEY KNOCKED OUT THE WARDEN!" Some of the guards starts yelling as they run in.

(Convicts?!) Rose gets ready to fight when Flint grabs her arm and they start running from the guards. "Hang on! I can-"

"We'll talk later kid." Flint says as he picks her up over his shoulder and starts running with her.

"What now?!" Emma asks as they reach some of the mine carts.

"Jump in!" Flint says as he jumps in one of the carts with Rose and Emma follows after pulling the lever to get it moving.

"Wait a minute, this track didn't finish yet right?" Emma says causing Flint to sweat drop as he puts Rose down.

"Oops…"

"You idi-WAAAH!" The cart goes full speed as it goes on the downhill track.

"Whoa, this is awesome!" Rose sits up in the cart and looks around with excitement.

"Who the hell are you anyway?! And how did you get that crystal?!" Emma asks

"My name's Rose and my parents gave this to me. Now who are you two?"

"I'm Emma and this old guy here is Flint."

"Hey! I'm not that old!"

Rose widens her eyes in shock. "Hold on, Flint as in Alun D. Flint?!"

"Yup! I'm the geologist who wrote that page about the Onnet Crystal."

"Awesome! It's so great to meet you! You can't imagine how helpful it's been with my research!"

He looks at her in confusion. "Your research?"

She eagerly nods. "Yea, I'm researching the Timore Comet!"

"WHAT?!"

"Uh guys, I hate to break up the meet and greet but we have a problem." Emma points ahead causing them to look to see that the track is cut off on a cliff of the mine with over a hundred guards waiting at the bottom.

"Men! Make sure they're all captured! Especially the intruder!" Spandine says as he cradles his aching head from being knocked out.

"Oh boy. Hmm, we'll just have to fight our way out." Flint says while Emma glares at him.

"We can't fight them you idiot!" Emma says

Rose starts smirking. "Don't worry, I got this!" She scoots to the front as the cart starts flying off the tracks and falling to where the guards are.

She uses her wind to get the cart flying causing the guards to look at her in shock along with Emma and Flint.

"What the hell?!" Emma says.

(It can't be! WIND RIDER?!) "MEN CAPTURE THOSE THREE AT ALL COSTS AND MAKE SURE THEY'RE ON THEIR KNEES!" Spandine yells as the guards scramble to go after them.

Rose laughs at the reaction as she gets the cart flying into a different tunnel then lands them safely when she sees that the coast is clear. "Sorry for the scare. I ate the wind wind fruit, so my body is basically wind." She starts to stand to get off the cart but her legs give in causing Flint to catch her.

"Did it take that much out of you?"

She shakes her head. "No, my crew and I got into a fight with an admiral and were sent flying by a shichibukai a few days ago. I guess I'm still exhausted..." (Kizaru's injuries aren't helping…)

Emma blinks in shock. "That's an understatement... We'd better find a place to hide so you can rest." She carries Rose on her back and they make it into an empty room to hide in. "This place should be ok." She gently sets Rose down on a chair when Flint finds a first aid kit.

"We should treat her injuries."

"I'll be doing that!" Emma takes the first aid kit from him then throws him in a closet and locks the door.

"Hey! Come on Emma!"

"Shut up old perv! I don't want a repeat of the bath incident!"

"I'm not old, and I keep telling you I'm not a pervert! That was an accident!"

Rose starts laughing as Emma walks over to her. "So what's your story Emma? Are you a geologist like Flint?"

Emma nods as she starts treating Roses injuries. "Yea, I'm working under Flint as his apprentice. We've been here for about a year investigating the crystal."

Rose unconsciously grabs her necklace.

Emma sighs in exasperation. "Relax, we're not gonna take it. Sorry about the idiot. It's the first time that either of us found an Onnet crystal that came from somewhere other than here."

She relaxes as she lets go of the necklace. "Really?"

She nods as she keeps patching her up and stares at it closely. "Yea, it's interesting though. It's really fine cut and it looks like it's absorbed astral energy before."

She looks at her in shock. "You can tell?!"

"Yea, I can tell from the appearance. It's weird though, it looks like the energy was used. Did you do something with it?"

She looks at her nervously. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you..."

"Try me."

"...It absorbed the Timore comets energy back in my world and brought me to this one."

Emma blinks for a moment before frowning. "You're right, I don't believe you."

"You mean you don't notice Emma?! I'm disappointed, I thought I trained your observation haki to its full potential." Flint says from the closet.

Rose looks at the door then her in confusion. "Notice what? You guys have observation haki?"

Emma ignores her questions and uses her observation haki for a moment before lightly gasping in shock. "What the hell?!"

"You see?!"

"What the hell are you guys talking about?!" Rose says in irritation.

"Your aura is red." Emma says causing her to quirk an eyebrow. "Do you know what observation haki is?"

Rose nods. "It's one of the three categories of haki. Observation Haki can give someone the ability to find someone hidden from plain sight, or miles away. It can help you to read a person's movements to see what their next attack is in a fight as well as look at their… Aura…"

Emma nods. "When you look at someone's aura you normally see their aura as a blue color, but yours is red. That's the first time I've seen that before."

"That's because she's telling the truth! I can't sense that she's lying." Flint says.

(That must've been what Rayleigh noticed when we first met… Wait, then that means when the crew meets again after the two years some of the others will be able to notice that I'm different…) Rose sighs in frustration as Emma finishes treating her.

"Sorry for not believing you about being from another world."

"Don't be, that sort of thing is hard to swallow."

"Like being able to make a mine cart fly. WAHAHA! Did you see that loser Spandine's face?! It was priceless!" Flint laughs along with Emma causing Rose to look at them in shock.

"Oh yea, I thought I saw him below us when I sent the cart flying! I can't believe that jerk's here!"

Emma looks at her in shock. "You know him?"

"That asshole destroyed my friend's home island! I sent his son to prison by recording a conversation that had him confessing his plans to overthrow the World Government!"

"That was you?!" Flint says in shock.

"You guys heard about that?!" Rose looks at them in shock as she gets up and grabs her bag to get her jeans, v-neck, jacket and gloves and starts changing out of the clothes Nami gave her.

"Everyone in this prison has heard about that! All the convicts make fun of him for it!" Emma says causing Rose to look at her in shock.

"So this place's a prison? I thought it was a base."

Emma shakes her head. "No, you see this place isn't supposed to exist at all. The World Government found this place years ago and tried to destroy it, but the crystals kept manifesting no matter how many times they tried to destroy the island. After a while they gave up and decided to turn this place into a prison for convicts who aren't pirates or ex marines to spend the rest of their lives. Those that come here never come out unless dead just like if you're in Impel Down. They force the prisoners to mine the crystals then the marines ship them to Vegapunk in order for him to experiment on ways to destroy them or use them against pirates. The convicts are mainly people who angered the Celestial Dragons enough for them to get punished, but aren't wanted as slaves."

Rose grits her teeth in anger as she keeps changing. "I see... What about you two?"

"We kind of came here on our own." Flint says.

"Huh?"

Emma nods. "Yea, we snuck in here to do a more thorough investigation on the crystal and do some experiments on them but the old warden caught us and said-" She gives a smug expression while mimicking an old man's voice. "'Since you two love crystals so much how about mining them for eternity?!'" She laughs at the imitation. "The old warden got promoted and Spandine replaced him after your stunt."

"Unknown to him though, we've been experimenting on these crystals in secret and studying not only on the origins but the difference in appearance of those that did and didn't absorb astral energies. The page you have was from my old volume. We've decided it was time to go and leave with the crystals that we have in order to update my findings, but we got chased by Spandine and the guards. That's when you showed up. I gotta say you're one funny kid!" Flint says as Rose finishes changing.

She goes to take Nami's hair tie off but stops herself and lets it stay in her hair. "We can let Flint out of the closet now."

Emma nods as she opens the door causing Flint to walk out triumphantly. "About time you let me out. I was about to use my armament haki to open it."

"You can do that too?!" Rose asks causing him to nod.

"Do the people in your world use haki?"

She shakes her head. "No, I wish… I only know of it because I looked into it... Do you guys know if it might be possible for me to train in haki? Observation and armament of course. I doubt I can use conqueror's haki."

Emma tilts her head in thought. "Well… Technically speaking, haki is in all living things… I guess with the right kind of training it's possible. What do you think Flint?"

He nods. "I don't see why not. We can train you as soon as we get out of here ."

Rose shakes her head causing them to look at her in confusion. "Sorry… I'd love to stay with you guys after we leave, but I have a war to fight in."

Emma widens her eyes in shock. "Wait a minute, you're not talking about the upcoming war in Marineford are you?!"

Rose nods. "Yea, do you guys know how long it'll take to get there?"

"It should take about 5 days or so, but you need an eternal pose." Flint says

(I hope that's enough time to make it…) "I see, in that case I have to get to Spandine's office to get the pose." She starts walking out but Emma blocks her.

"Hold on! You're not at full strength! You can't go to a war! You're not even part of the Whitebeard Pirates right?!"

She shakes her head. "No, I'm one of the Straw Hat Pirates."

Flint whistles. "You just keep getting interesting. Didn't you guys destroy Enies Lobby?"

She nods. "Technically the World Government destroyed it with their Buster Call, but they pinned the blame on us because we were their targets."

"Does the World Government know what you are?" Emma asks.

She nods. "Yea. They figured me out..." ("If you want your origins kept a secret then stay away from Marineford.") Roses eyes widen at remembering Kuma's last words to her. (Those World Government assholes were expecting this… DAMNIT! They kept quiet about my origins this whole time in order to use it against me at the war!) She clenches her fists in frustration causing Flint and Emma to look at her in concern.

"Hey, are you alright?" Emma asks.

She nods as she un-clenches her fists. "I'll be fine. I have to get out of here as soon as possible to make it to Marineford before the war starts." (If they're telling my secret then they're not telling Aces!)

Emma places her hands on Roses shoulders and looks her in the eye. "Why are you getting yourself involved? Since you're not a Whitebeard it shouldn't be worth risking the World Government revealing your origins. You know what will happen if they do right?"

"Sadly I do… I know the world will see me as a demon and my crewmates are gonna be pissed off at me…"

Flint looks at her in shock. "You never told them?"

She shakes her head. "I was afraid of how they'd react to me since my knowledge of this world comes from their adventures... To be honest, I'm still nervous about what they'll think of me even though one of them already knows, but I can't just back away now! The man that's supposed to die in Marineford: Portgas D. Ace is my captain's brother! Not only that, I know the type of person Ace is! He's a good man that doesn't deserve to die! Look, I know it's dangerous... But if I can't use what I know about this world to help the people close to me then there's no point in having this information at all!"

Both of them stare at her in shock as she calms herself down and gets Emmas hands off of her shoulders. "I'm sorry about my ranting... I'm willing to help you guys escape, but I refuse to leave without making sure I can get to the war."

Flint snaps out of his daze then smirks. "You got some guts kid, I like it. Consider me your ally in getting the pose and a boat."

Rose brightens up at that while Emma looks at him in disbelief. "You can't be serious Flint! We should be talking her out of this."

He shakes his head. "I've seen that look in her eyes too many times. There's no changing her mind even if we chop her legs off. Besides, with her help we can get the other convicts out too."

"You have a point but-"

"Great! I found the blueprints of the place in the closet, so let's start planning!" Flint goes to grab the blueprints while Emma sighs in defeat.

"Why do I follow him again? *Sigh* You better know what you're doing Rose."

She nods. "It should be fine. If not then we'll wing it." She checks the blueprints with Flint while Emma twitches an eyebrow.

(These two are gonna kill me…) She sighs again as she joins the group and listens in on the plan. 

* * *

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU MEN HAVEN'T FOUND THEM YET?!" Spandine yells as the guards report their search.

"We're sorry sir but this place is a labyrinth! They could be anywhere." One of the guards says.

"I don't care for excuses! Have you sent men up to the surface of the crater in case they try flying?"

The guards nod.

"Good, then keep searching!"

The guards salute him then run off to search for the trio while Spandam smirks. "Finally, if I can get Wind Rider Rose then I'll be back on top in no time!"

Rose smirks as she materializes right behind him. "You really think so?"

He nods "Absolutely, after all the trouble you caused me you'll finally-" He cuts himself off and turns only for his nose to meet Roses fist and then she grabs his arm and uses her wind to help throw him and slam him to the wall.

"That was for Ohara you asshat!" She creates an air scooter and gives him a mock salute as she rides away.

Spandine gets up while cradling his bleeding nose then runs after her and takes out his baby den den mushi. "CALLING ALL GUARDS! I FOUND WIND RIDER! SHE'S HEADING TO THE CELL BLOCK! WE'LL CORNER HER!"

The guards start running in after her in the cell block where the other prisoners are watching the scene with amusement and cheering for her.

"GO GIRL!"

"GIVE THAT LOSER A RUN FOR HIS MONEY!"

"WAIT! TURN AROUND! YOU'LL GET CORNERED!"

She stops in front of an open cell and was cornered by Spandine and 20 guards.

Spandine smirks as he walks up to her. "You really think you can just invade this place and get away with it? Let me guess: you came here to learn about your crystal correct?"

She smirks as she shakes her head. "Wouldn't you like to know. Though coming here did help me to understand something new about the crystal I'm here for a much bigger prize."

He quirks an eyebrow. "What would that be?"

She waved her hand motioning him to come at her. "Push me into the cell and I'll tell you."

He looks at her in confusion then smirks. "Easy!" He runs to push her into the cell, but before he could touch her she turned her body into wind causing him to go through her. She materialized behind him and gave him a twister kick that slams him into the cell.

"SPANDINE!" The guards charge at her but she flew behind them and used her wind to send them flying into the cell and slam Spandine into the wall.

She quickly closed the door and locked it with a smirk. "What was that about 'easy'?"

"Ha! You idiot! I have the key to the cells right- Huh?!" He searches his pockets to find his keys gone.

Rose holds the key and his baby den den mushi in her hands. "Looking for these?" (Hehe, good thing I got Nami to teach me some of her tricks. She'd be proud.) She turns to the rest of the block. "ATTENTION EVERYONE! I'M GONNA GET YOU OUT BUT WE NEED TO WORK TOGETHER IN ORDER TO ESCAPE! MY FRIENDS ARE SECURING TWO BOATS AT THE DOCKS SO GET THERE AND HELP OUT, UNDERSTAND?!"

The convicts cheer as she opens the doors. (I'd better get the pose!) She flies out and sends the guards in her way flying while the convicts run out of the cell block and reach for the docks.

* * *

(According to those blueprints Spandines office should be… Here!) Rose opens the door to Spandines office.

She walks into the room and finds a desk, window, a shelf full of eternal poses and a bird cage with a brown falcon with golden patches on her stomach that matches her eyes inside tied up with a muzzle around its beak and struggling with its talons trapped in tiny bags and cuffs around its legs.

(What the hell? That's just cruel.) She walks up to the cage, but the bird tries to headbutt her as she tries to put her hand in. "Hey! Take it easy! I'm not gonna hurt you! I want to untie you." (What am I saying? This is a bird! There's no way that-)

She snaps out her thoughts when she sees that the falcon is nodding at her in understanding and is lifting its leg up for her to untie the bag. "Wow, you're one smart bird. Hold still." She takes the muzzle, ropes, and the bags off then breaks open the cage.

"Sorry, I don't have the key for the cuffs… I'll see if I can find it after- Crap! How do you tell which of these poses goes to Marineford?" She looks at the shelf in confusion while trying to figure out which eternal pose is the right one.

"The one for Marineford is the one on the top right."

"Oh really? Thanks-" She freezes and looks around the room to see who said that but it's just her and the bird with the cuffs off. "Huh? Who said that?"

"That would be me. Thanks for getting those bags off. They made it much easier to pick the locks on my sea stone cuffs. My name's Zira." Rose looks down to see that the falcon is talking to her while flying to the top of the shelf.

She blinks in surprise then softly chuckles as she grabs the eternal pose. "Nice to meet you. I'm Rose. Let me guess: you ate a devil fruit?"

Zira looks at her in shock then nods. (She's not scared?) "Y-yea I ate the sound sound fruit. It allows me to copy any sound and voice that I hear." She closes her eyes for a moment then starts talking with Roses voice. "'Let me guess: You ate a devil fruit?'"

She chuckles at the impersonation. "Not bad, you don't look like your average parrot though."

"I'm not a parrot! I'm a falcon! Dr. Vegapunk experimented on me and gave me human intelligence after he found out about my devil fruit. He wanted me to be a spy against the pirates, but I wouldn't have it and I escaped. I got caught by Spandine soon after... He planned on giving me back to Vegapunk for a promotion."

She shakes her head as she grabs some of the other eternal poses and places them in a separate part of the bag. "Man, does asshole run in his family or something? Oh well, I locked Spandine in a cell so you're safe. You'd better escape while you can." Rose turns to leave but Zira flies right in front of her.

"Hold on! What the hell?!"

She quirks an eyebrow at her. "Is it about the parrot comment? I didn't mean to offend."

"No, not about that! I mean why aren't you freaking out?!"

"Why would I do that?"

"I'm a freaking talking bird!"

She looks at her in fake surprise. "You are?! I never noticed!"

"SHUT UP!"

She laughs at her anger. "Sorry, sorry. Let me ask you a question then do you know of a human that can fly?"

She shakes her head. "That's impossible! Humans can't-" She looks down in shock to see Rose use her wind to lift her feet off the ground.

"WHAT THE HELL?!"

Rose laughs at her shock. "I ate the wind wind fruit. Sorry for the scare, as you can see i've seen a lot of things. You're definitely the first talking bird I've met though. It's pretty cool. If I wasn't so used to the craziness in this world I might have been more shocked."

Zira tilts her head in confusion. "'This world?'"

She nods. "I'd love to explain, but I have to get going! I recommend escaping through the crater." She starts flying out of the room and to the dock with Zira following. "What's the matter?"

"Can I come with you?! I can help you out!"

She quirks an eyebrow then nods with a grin. "Sure! As long as you're ok with pirates."

"You're a pirate?! That's awesome! The reason I didn't want to spy on pirates for the marines was because I wanted to be one!"

"Great! Then let's go!"

They make it to the dock and freeze when they see the convicts along with Emma and Flint facing the remaining guards.

Rose looks to see that the gates to the docks are closed. "Crap, how are we going to open them?!"

"I saw a baby den den mushi in your bag. Was that Spandines?" Zira asks causing her to nod. "Turn it on to announcer mode. I know what to do. You go help the others."

Rose nods as she turns on the den den mushi and leaves it on the ground for her to use then runs to help the others. 

* * *

Emma and Flint are panting from exhaustion as they're facing against the three top guards in the prison on the deck of one of the boats in their devil fruit forms: Byron: A man that ate the mutt mutt fruit model coyote. Ari: a woman who ate the bird bird fruit model hawk, and Khan: a man who ate the cat cat fruit model tiger.

"How much longer can you keep this up criminals?" Byron says as he gets ready to pounce again.

Emma smirks as she gets in a stance. "I can see that you're getting exhausted too pup."

Byron growls in irritation as he and Khan charge forward and pounce on Emma and Flint.

"Is that all you got? You must be getting old." Flint punches Byron in the face but he gets right back up causing Emma to laugh as she kicks Khan and charges at him.

"You're the one getting old Flint."

"No I'm not! Look out!"

Emma turns while holding off Khan from biting her to see Ari about to swipe at her.

"TWISTER PUNCH!" Rose sends Ari flying with a twister punch and slams her on the deck. "Hey guys, sorry i'm late for the fight."

"Better late than never Rose." Flint says as he gets back to fighting Byron.

"So you're the intruder causing the chaos." Ari says as she recovers and glares at Rose.

"I prefer Wind Rider, but I guess intruder's ok. Ready to dance Tweety?"

She twitches an eyebrow. "I don't know what a tweety is, but I'll make you pay for calling me that!"

Both girls fly in the air and go toe to toe with one another.

(I'd rather not find out if she has armament haki.) Rose dodges her talons while fighting back with her twister punches.

Ari dodges with ease. "What? Are you a one trick pony?"

"You wish!" Rose grabs her staff. "Wind blade!" She slashes through the air while she dodges. "Wind cannon!" She hits her with a wind cannon from her free hand.

Ari starts falling but recovers before she hits the deck. "Not bad." She charges at her while Rose dodges. Aris looks down to see Emma fuse armament haki in her arm and send Khan flying off the boat. Ari charges at her.

Rose flies after her and snaps a tornado on the deck while Flint kicked Byron off the deck. "Emma! Flint! Get off the boat!"

They look at her in confusion but look at Ari and run off with her chasing after them but got caught in the tornado that grew right under her. "TWISTER BARRAGE!" Rose turned both of her arms into twister and pushed them onto the twister to keep the tornado from going out of control.

Rose cancelled out the twister to find a knocked out Ari in her human form. Rose gently places her off the boat and on the dock with the rest of the defeated guards when the mines echo with Spandine's voice thanks to the den den mushi.

"ATTENTION CONTROL ROOM! THIS IS SPANDINE! I NEED YOU TO OPEN THE GATES TO THE DOCKS! BACK UP WILL BE ARRIVING TO TAKE CARE OF THE CRIMINALS! DO NOT QUESTION ME!"

Emma and Flint look at the gate in shock as it starts to open.

"Oh crap! This isn't good! Guys, we're taking two boats! Get on either this one or the other one!" Emma says as she boards one of the smaller boats with some of the convicts while Flint and the others take one of the larger ships.

"Everyone! Get the boats started! I'll see what we're up against!" Rose says as she flies up ahead to see that there's no one there. "Huh?"

"I told you I can help you." Zira says as she flies next to her then imitates Roses voice. "EVERYONE, THE COAST IS CLEAR! GO NOW!"

The boats hurry off to the gate.

"Good job Zira." Rose flies behind both boats and uses her wind to push them when they hear Spandine's voice on the announcer again.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING CONTROL ROOM?! CAN'T YOU TELL A FAKE VOICE FROM A REAL ONE?! CLOSE THE GATES RIGHT NOW!"

The gates start to close while the ship is halfway out but Rose used her wind with full force to push the sails when Ari goes back into hawk form and flies after her.

"Let's see how you do without your arms?" She flies at her only to be hit with a twister kick and slammed back onto the deck.

"Who said I only fight with my arms?" She smirks as she manages to get both of the boats and herself out of the mines just before the gates closed. 

* * *

After Rose made sure that the boat was safe from pursuit she stops using her wind to push the sails of both boats. She lightly pants from exhaustion then lands on the large boat where the passengers from both boats surround her.

"That was amazing! Who are you?!"

"Where did you come from?!"

"Thank you so much for freeing us!"

Emma and Flint cut through the crowd and make it to her then push the crowd away from her. "Alright everyone, give the girl some air to breathe!" Flint says.

"Was that supposed to be a pun?" Rose asks causing him to blink in surprise before laughing and pats her on the back.

"Wahaha! Now it is! You're one tough kid! Good job."

She smiles as she nods. "Thanks. I'm grateful for the help. Here." She goes into her bag to grab one of the eternal poses she grabbed. "Consider this repayment for making that page on the Onnet crystal. I'm not sure where it'll go but it should get you guys to safety."

His smile starts to fade as he takes it. "Thanks… Are you really sure about going?"

She softly smiles as she nods. "Yup. I won't ask you guys to come with me. It's my fight and you guys should get that new page on the crystal ready."

He hands her back the pose. "Sorry to say that I can't do that."

She tilts her head in confusion causing Emma to laugh. "We would like to examine your crystal more since it's the first one we've seen that's actually used the energy that it absorbed."

She quirks an eyebrow at this. "What are you saying exactly?"

Emma chuckles as she brings her to the side of the boat facing the small ship. "We're saying that we're going with you until you get there. The next few days will be pretty boring if you're by yourself."

Rose looks at them in shock then nods with a grin. "Thanks. I appreciate it."

"Hold on! What do you mean 'by yourself'?! I'm gonna be with her!" Zira says as she lands on the boat causing everyone but Rose to look at her in shock.

"WHAT THE HELL?! A TALKING BIRD?!" They yell causing Zira to laugh.

"You see Rose?! This is how people SHOULD react to me!"

Rose laughs at that. "Sorry Zira, like I said I'm too used to this world. Relax guys, this is my friend Zira. I busted her out of Spandine's office and she made that fake order to open the gates."

Flint blinks in surprise before laughing. "Wahaha! So that's what happened! Thanks for the help! I look forward to traveling with you." He jumps off the ship onto the boat with Emma following.

Rose turns to one of the escapees and hands him the extra pose. "Take this. A lot of marine ships are out lately, so be careful. Good luck on your travels." She jumps off the ship and lands on the leaving boat then waves them off as they wave back and follow their pose.

Zira flies onto Roses shoulder in excitement. "So this is the life of a pirate huh? I like it! So where's our first pirate adventure?"

Rose blinks at her in confusion. "You don't know?"

"Nope. I also forgot to ask. What are you planning to do with that Marineford pose? You're selling it right?" She laughs while Rose looks at her blankly causing her laughter to die.

"Wait, you don't mean you're-"

"Yup, we're off to Marineford!"

Zira looks at her in horror. "WHAT?!" 

TO BE CONTINUED


	23. Chapter 23

Days have passed since the escape from the mines and right now Zira finished teaching Rose how to pick the lock on sea stone cuffs while Flint and Emma are examining Roses necklace. Zira sits on the side of the boat while staring at Rose blankly while she practices the lock picking technique she learned.

"Why did you want to learn how to pick these so badly?"

Rose keeps her focus on picking the locks on the cuffs. "If I'm getting Ace out of the war then I'm gonna have to get him out of his sea stone cuffs. Besides, as a devil fruit user myself this skill is pretty useful." (As long as I wear my gloves the stone won't affect me.)

"Why do you want to go to the war so badly?"

"Why else? To help Luffy save Ace from dying. Speaking of the war though, what are you going to do?"

She tilts her head in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"Marineford's a dangerous place. I won't force you to come with me."

"Who needs forcing?! I told you that I'll help you out and that's what I'm gonna do! My power's more useful than you think!"

She quirks an eyebrow when she manages to unlock the cuffs. "Alright! 10 minutes, a new record. What about your abilities can be helpful though?"

"I'll show you! As you know, I ate the sound sound fruit. Not only can I imitate voices and sounds but I can also channel those sounds at a distance. You'd better cover your ears."

Rose does as she's told while Zira focuses her abilities and creates an invisible orb around the boat. "ZIRA'S THE BEST BIRD PIRATE IN THE WORLD!"

"AAAH!" Both Flint and Emma yell as they run up to the deck of the boat.

"KEEP IT DOWN YOU CRAZY PARROT!" Emma yells.

"I'M NOT A PARROT YOU JERK!"

"Alright, break it up! Sorry about that guys, Zira was demonstrating her devil fruit powers to me." Rose says

Flint waves his hand dismissively. "No worries kid. You ready for tomorrow?"

She nods. "Zira's been teaching me how to pick sea stone cuffs, so it's been a great help. Zira, I think your powers will be really useful too. Do you know how far you can channel your sound?"

Zira nods as she flies onto Roses shoulder. "If I focus my energy I can channel my sound to an entire island, but I can only keep it for about a few minutes."

"That would be perfect! I don't want you to come with me to the platform because of how dangerous it will be. I'm going to sneak to the execution from above then cause a disturbance. While I'm distracting them I want you to try to disconnect the den den mushis in the control area. Afterwards, I need you to hide in the clouds and give out a message to the battlefield."

"A message?"

"I want you to try to copy Sengoku's voice and order the grunts to retreat."

Emma looks at her in confusion. "Why tell her to do that? I would have her threaten them about telling your secret."

"If she did that then it will show Sengoku and the other higher ups that they have that advantage over me, but if she does this then maybe we can cause less casualties."

Zira nods. "I'll do it."

"Thanks, once you give the message I want you to get to safety."

Zira slowly nods in understanding. "You should be more concerned about yourself Rose. By the way, what secret is Emma talking about?"

"Oh right, I didn't tell you! You see, I'm from another dimension."

"Oh I see. From another dim-" She widens her eyes in shock. "WHAT?!"

She nods while holding back from laughing. "Yup, one night I accidentally used the Timore Comet's energy to bring me to this world. Not that I'm complaining though. I like it here."

"What the hell?! That explains why you weren't surprised about me!"

"Yup, but not only because of that. It's also because my crew has a humanoid reindeer, a cyborg, and a living skeleton so a talking bird is pretty normal to me."

Flint, Emma and Zira's mouths fall to the deck causing Rose to laugh. "You guys should see your faces! Hahaha!"

Emma recovers from the shock first. "If they're that weird then why are you so nervous about telling them who you are?!"

She stops laughing and softly sighs. "I already told you. I'm nervous about how they'd react to me since before I came to this world I looked into their adventures both the past and future..."

"You know the crew's future?!" Zira asks.

"Yea, to an extent. It's a long story... Literally."

Zira tilts her head in confusion but nods. "Alright then."

Rose quirks an eyebrow. "What do you mean 'alright then'?"

"Like I said. You weren't scared of me, so why should I be scared of you?"

She blinks in surprise before petting Zira's head with a grin. "Thanks, with that attitude you're gonna make a great pirate."

"Thanks!"

"So what's your plan after the war Rose?" Flint asks.

"To be honest I haven't given it a lot of thought. If I succeed in getting Ace and Luffy out then I was planning on convincing Luffy to train with Rayleigh then head to the Talon mines to do some research on the crystal. Since I've already been there, I'll figure something out. What about you guys?"

"We're gonna stay at Sabaody Archipelago for a little while then hitch a ride to the New World." Emma says.

"You know now that you mention it. On that page Flint wrote there was a message about not being able to go to the New World. What was that about?"

"I was planning to head there to get more information before publishing the page but then I found Emma as a child. The New World was no place for a pipsqueak like her, so I couldn't go and decided to publish my current findings. Now that she's grown we've decided to try our luck in the New World." Flint says.

Rose nods in understanding. "Good for you guys. While you're at Sabaody I recommend going to Shakki's bar on Grove 13. It's a really good place."

"Will do!" Flint gives her a thumbs up causing Emma to sigh.

"Just what I need. An old drunk to take care of."

"I'm not that old! And I'm not a drunk!"

"Whatever, anyway let's get inside. I just finished dinner when the parrot scared us half to death."

"I'M NOT A PARROT!"

Rose and Flint couldn't hold back from laughing as they watch Emma and Zira argue while they made it to the dining hall.

As they start eating dinner Flint hands Rose back her necklace. "Thanks again for lending it to me. The difference between a crystal that used astral energy and a fresh crystal is fascinating. And if I didn't know better I would have thought it was from this world."

She nods with a soft grin as she takes the necklace back and puts it on. "I should be the one thanking you for letting me view your new findings. They've really helped me to understand the crystal."

He nods as Zira finishes her food. "Not bad Emma. I didn't think a brute like you could cook."

"What was that bird brain?! I can cook you up if you want!"

"I'd like to see you try she devil!"

"Tweety!"

"What's a Tweety?!"

"Bwahahaha!" Both Rose and Flint laugh as they watch Emma and Zira argue.

"5 beli on Emma." Flint says.

Rose nods. "I'll take that bet."

"DON'T GO MAKING BETS ON US YOU JERKS!" Both Emma and Zira yell causing them to laugh even harder.

(Bwahahaha! They're like Zoro and Sanji!) Rose recovers from laughing as she finishes her food. "If you think this is good Zira just wait until the crew gets back together. Sanji's one of the best chefs in the world. Your cooking is really good too Emma."

Emma nods in satisfaction as she settles down. "As long as you know it's good it's fine. So, what are you going to do if Sengoku does tell your secret?"

"I've been making preparations in case that does happen."

Flint quirks an eyebrow. "What kind of preparations?"

"You'll find out tomorrow. I should go finish them up right now." She goes to take her plate to clean up but Emma swipes it.

"We'll be taking care of that. You get going."

"Thanks, I'll see you guys tomorrow." She heads out of the dining hall and stays in her room for the rest of the night.

* * *

 _Chaos ensues everywhere in Marineford as Rose fights through the vice admirals in Marineford. She glares at them as she unsheathes her blades. She starts running as she uses the back of her blades and jumps from marine to marine while knocking them out with the back of her blades. The marines try everything to stop her. They try shooting and slicing at her as she attacks them, however the attacks just go through her as she flies from marine to marine in order to knock them out._

 _After knocking out the surrounding marines she sheathes her blades and flies up to search the area. (Where are they?) She freezes when she sees Luffy and Ace running through Marineford to make their escape while taking down any marine that's in their path._

 _(There they are!) "GUYS!" They didn't hear her so she tries flying over to them but lands to dodge Kizaru's light beam as he materializes in front of her._

 _"Sorry to disappoint Wind Rider, but you're not strong enough to defeat me."_

 _She clenches her teeth in rage as she turns her arms into twisters. "I don't need to beat you glint gorilla. I just need to be strong enough to get you to move out of my way!" She extends the twister at Kizaru causing him to turn himself into light._

 _Both sides don't give an inch as Rose continually tries to punch him with her twisters while Kizaru keeps trying to blast her with his powers while she dodges until he jumps above her and blasts her to the ground._

 _He towers over her and creates a light sword. "Goodbye." Before he strikes her Marco flies in and blocks the attack with his talons._

 _"Get going yoi!"_

 _Rose nods as she uses her wind to start flying. "Thanks Marco!" She flies away while Marco holds off Kizaru. She punches out any marine in her way with her twister punches until she sees Luffy, Ace and Akainu in her sights._

 _"HOW DARE YOU INSULT WHITEBEARD?!" Ace launches a fire fist at Akainu but was overpowered by Akainu's magma and was knocked to the ground._

 _(NO!) "GUYS! JUST RUN!" Rose tries to catch up to them but Doflamingo wraps his strings around her and slams her to the ground. (Crap! He infused his strings with haki!)_

 _"Fufufu! Nice try kid, but someone has to die in this war. Just be a good girl and watch." Doflamingo takes control of her limbs and forces her to watch from a distance as Luffy collapses then Akainu launches magma at Luffy but Ace blocks the blow with his body._

 _"ACE!" Luffy and Rose yell as Ace collapses from the blow._

 _Rose bit her lip as she's struggling against the strings while watching Ace die in Luffy's arms. "DAMNIT! DAMNIT! DAMNIT! ACE! LUFFY!"_ _Her voice doesn't reach Luffy as the crossfire from the war blocks out her cries._

 _Doflamingo watches her futile struggle in amusement. "Fufufufu! Now that was a fun show. Why don't you go join him in hell outsider?" Doflamingo holds her down with his strings leaving her body wide open as he points a finger at her. "Bullet String." He fires at her chest and kills her instantly._

* * *

Rose woke up in a jolt from the nightmare in the middle of the night while gasping for breath and feels her chest to find the bullet wound not there. (That wasn't a good sign… *Sigh*) She runs a hand through the hair as she gets up and walks onto the deck.

She stops at the middle of the deck then looks up at the sky. (I can't put too much thought into it or I'll psyche myself out... I'd better get the clouds ready.) Rose flies up and uses her wind to collect the scattered clouds and forms them together into a giant overcast. (Good thing I've been moving some of them with me along the way. I should finish practicing that new addition to the tornadoes.)

Once Rose was satisfied with her work she lands back on the deck then gets her staff out to practice. Rose snapped 5 tornadoes and then focused an orb around each of them in order to keep them from growing. She tossed them up into the air and destroyed all but one which she allowed to be released from the orb and grow. Before it could hit the deck she destroys it with a wind blade.

She continues creating tornado orbs then destroying them with ease with a grin. (Hehe, I'd like to see Howzer from the Seven Deadly Sins try this! I think I got the hang of this move.) She softly smiles in satisfaction then relaxes as she sits down on the deck. (I wonder how the others are doing… I hope you're making it out of Impel Down safely Luffy…)

Her smile fades as she goes into her bag to grab the photo of the crew. (I'm sure because of this stunt some of the others have figured out that I knew we were separating...) "I'm sorry guys…"

"We forgive you." She turns in shock to see Zira flying to her causing Rose to whack her on the head.

"Who asked you?!"

She laughs at the reaction. "Sorry. So why are you apologizing to a photo?"

She sighs as she shows her the picture. "This is a picture of my crew. I had everyone take it the day we separated…"

"You said you knew the crews future right? If you knew that the event was going to happen then why didn't you stop everyone from separating?"

"I did it to get everyone strong enough for The New World… As we are now we would have been annihilated the minute we landed on Fishman Island. Kuma sent the others to places that would get them strong enough for that challenge."

She nods. "What about your captain? You said he's heading to Marineford too right?"

"Yup. Kuma sent him someplace close and he should be on his way to the island by now. He was sent to-" She suddenly felt a chill up her spine at remembering where he was sent to.

Zira tilts her head in confusion. "Where did he send him to?"

"Amazon Lily…" (Oh shit! I completely forgot about Boa Hancock! If Luffy says anything about me she'll consider me a love rival! Not like that's a lie… I'm not dealing with this during a freaking war! I'd better avoid her at all costs.)

Zira stares at her in shock. "Are you sure he's not dead?! Amazon Lily is the Isle of Women!"

"I know, but don't worry he managed. Something I learned about this world is that you never underestimate the luck of a D."

She slowly nods as she takes a closer look at the picture. "If you say so… Wow, you weren't kidding about your crew. I'm not that scary compared to these guys. Do you think they'll accept me?"

She looks at Zira in shock. "Are you kidding?! You're amazing! Not only is your ability great, but you're pretty fun to have around! Luffy will ask you to join the crew like that!" She snaps her fingers and accidentally creates a tornado. She frantically uses her wind to destroy it before it grew. "Well, you get the idea."

"Hahaha thanks. You know, I wouldn't worry so much about your secret getting out."

She quirks an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"If they're as great as you say they are and you explain yourself then I'm sure they'll forgive you, but in my opinion there's nothing to forgive. You were working in their interest after all."

She blinks in surprise before softly grinning. "Thanks. Hey, wanna race a bit before the others get up?"

"You're on! Last one to the clouds is a rotten vulture!" Zira zipped past Rose as the two raced all over the sky until morning.

* * *

After breakfast Rose and Zira finish getting ready to leave as Emma and Flint see them off.

"Do you really have to leave now?" Emma asks.

Rose nods. "Yup, if we take the boat any closer to the island the marines could start attacking you. Good luck in the New World. I look forward to your next edition."

Flint nods with a smirk. "Count on it. We're gonna stay in Sabaody for at least a week, so you can come find us after the war and if you want you can come with us."

She shakes her head. "I appreciate the offer, but I think it's best if I don't cause you anymore trouble. Besides, I'm not sure how long it will take to get back-"

Rose is cut off with a fist to the head by Emma. "What do you mean 'anymore trouble'?! The last thing you are is trouble you crazy kid! Don't go around thinking we're not friends!"

Flint nods in agreement. "Couldn't have said it better Emma, but I understand your reasoning. If your secret does get out there will be no one who doesn't know you. If you need anything though find us with this vivre card." He hands her his vivre card.

Rose blinks in surprise before nodding with a grin and taking the card. "Thanks. There's actually a favor I want to ask you guys."

Emma blinks in surprise. "What is it?"

Rose digs into her bag to grab 8 envelopes. "The war is going to be broadcasted at Sabaody… If my secret gets out I'd like you guys to mail these out please."

Flint looks at them in shock. "Are these for your crewmates?!"

Rose slowly nods. "They're letters to each of them explaining everything. Me being from another world, the true reason why I know about this world, and an apology for keeping them in the dark and telling them like this…" (They deserve to hear it from me at least... For Robin I was at least able to tell her that the others know…)

Emma nods as she takes them. "As soon as we hear it we'll mail them out."

"Thank you."

Zira looks at the envelopes in confusion. "Hold on, I counted 10 in your crew. With the exception of you there should be 9 letters. Why are there only 8?"

"The one I left out is the one for Luffy. I plan on planting it on him in case we can't escape together."

"I see… Are you ready to go?"

Rose nods as she turns to the others. "Thanks again for everything guys."

Flint pulls her into a hug while crying comical tears. "Aww! I'm gonna miss you kid!"

She chuckles as she hugs him back. "I'll miss you too Flint."

Emma pries him off of her. "Take it easy old man! Rose, when you're out there make sure to give those marines hell!"

Rose nods with a smirk as she takes out Marineford's eternal pose and starts flying with Zira. "Count on it! I'll see you around!"

They wave them off as they hide inside the giant cloud and start making their way to Marineford.

"As soon as we get to the island I'll get to the control area." Zira says.

Rose nods as they start seeing Marineford in their sights. (Here it is…) She clenches her fists as she stares at the island. "I appreciate your help Zira. Whatever you do be very careful. These guys are a lot stronger than the ones at the mines."

"Who do you think you're talking to here? As long as we stick to the plan it should be fine! I'll be watching what happens, so when you escape I'll follow you."

Rose nods as she manipulates the cloud to slowly make its way over the platform while trying to look natural. "Good luck."

She nods as she flies out of the cloud and gets into position.

Rose slowly moves within the giant cloud to make herself directly above the execution platform. She looks down to see a shirtless freckled man with messy black hair and scratches and bruises all over his body except for Whitebeard's mark that's tattooed on his back being secured onto the platform.

(Ace… Just hold on!) Rose snaps up about 15 tornadoes, locks them in orbs and catches them before they fell out of the clouds. She sends the tornadoes flying in different locations in the cloud when Sengoku started speaking through his baby den den mushi.

"EVERYONE! TODAY MARK'S THE EXECUTION OF PORTGAS D. ACE! HIS DEATH HOLDS MORE IMPORTANCE THAN YOU REALIZE! Ace who is your father?"

Rose grits her teeth in rage as she turns her body into wind and gets ready to release the tornadoes. (Like I'd let you have your way Sengoku! LET'S DO THIS!)

TO BE CONTINUED

* * *

 **A/N: Hi everyone. First off, I was amazed by the crazy rise in faves and follows in this past week. It really boosted my confidence in this story and I want to thank not just those that faved me from this week but from the beginning.**

 **Second I promise not to delay in Marineford anymore. I just got off of finals so I have the time to make it perfect. Having said that I want to give this arc as much justice as possible for how important this arc is so I will need time to perfect it. I'm going to do my best in order to give you guys a great show, so I hope you enjoy. If I do disappoint you after this arc I hope you can forgive me.**

 **See ya later my fellow One Piece lovers.**


	24. Chapter 24

The marines have just finished securing Aces cuffs to the platform and are currently on standby as the marines set up their formation.

Ace frowns as he looks up to the sky which is overcast with clouds. (Looks like a storm is brewing… Damnit, this is all my fault! Please be alright Luffy... Pops… Huh?) He widens his eyes in shock when he sees something moving in the clouds. (Was that a bird? Or a person? I must be seeing things.) He shakes his head when Sengoku steps up next to him.

He starts activating his baby den den mushi. "EVERYONE! TODAY MARKS THE EXECUTION OF PORTGAS D. ACE! HIS DEATH HOLDS MORE IMPORTANCE THAN YOU REALIZE! ACE, TELL US WHO YOUR FATHER IS."

He widens his eyes in realization of what he's doing. "Whitebeard is my father."

"You're lying."

"NO, IT'S THE TRUTH! WHITEBEARD IS MY-" He cuts himself off as he and the others look up in shock to see small tornadoes falling out of the sky and growing while in midair to attack the admirals, vice admirals and the shichibukai.

The three admirals managed to dodge while most of the vice admirals took the blow along with half of the shichibukai while the others dodged.

"NOT AGAIN!" Moria yells as he and Kuma are sent flying in the tornado.

"Fufufu! This was more interesting than I thought." Doflamingo says as he, Mihawk and Hancock dodge the tornadoes with ease.

(Rose…) Aokiji stares at the tornadoes while he, Akainu and Kizaru dodge the tornadoes and start destroying them while more keep falling from the sky.

"What the hell?!" Ace stares at the tornadoes in shock while Sengoku grits his teeth in fury.

"Wind Rider… MARINES! IT APPEARS THAT THE WAR HAS STARTED EARLY! WIND RIDER ROSE HAS ARRIVED TO- WAAAH!" A tornado grew from under him but before it could hit Ace a wind barrier formed around him and redirected the tornado off the platform.

(How the-) Ace snaps out of his thoughts when a skinny freckled brunette materialized out of the the wind barrier with a grin.

Rose sighed in relief. "Phew, good thing I got the hang of turning myself into wind. Hi Ace, hold still while I get your cuffs off."

His eyes widen in shock as she knelt behind him and got the tools to unlock the cuffs ready. "Wait a minute, who the hell are you?! Did you do this?!"

"My name's Rose. Yup, I created the tornadoes with my devil fruit. Don't worry though I only aimed for those I knew would be able to take the hit. It should hold them off long enough for Whitebeard's fleet to arrive."

Sengoku's tornado sent him to the bottom of the platform before he manages to collect himself and destroy the tornado. He gets up in fury and grabs his baby den den mushi. "MARINES! THE ONE WHO- Huh?" He looks at the den den mushi in shock to see that it's been disconnected.

Some of the guards run towards him causing him to turn to them in irritation. "What's going on with the den den mushi?!"

"Sir! It appears someone has invaded the control area! We lost contact with the operators and the room has been locked from the inside so no one can get the connection back!"

"WHAT?! GARP, GO TAKE CARE OF ROSE! I'LL TAKE CARE OF THE INTRUDER!"

Garp nods as he runs up to the platform and gets his fist ready.

"I WON'T LET YOU SAVE HIM WIND RIDER!" Garp makes it up to the platform and tries to get his fist through the barrier but it held him back before it could hit her.

Rose used her wind to push him back then focuses more wind to strengthen the barrier to protect her from Garp's punches while working on getting the cuffs off. "No offense Ace, but your grandpa's the scariest old guy I've ever seen! Damnit, your cuffs are more complicated than the ones I practiced on! Just hang on!"

Ace couldn't get his eyes off her as she focuses on the cuffs. (Why is she trying so hard to save me?) "Whitebeard didn't take a daughter did he?!"

She shakes her head. "Nope, I'm part of another crew that I consider family. I'm working on my own. I'll explain after I get these cuffs off." She keeps working on Aces cuffs while blocking Garp's punches.

* * *

Zira nods in satisfaction of her work in knocking out the guards with her screech, locking the door then cutting off all connections with the audio den den mushi's. (I'm sure Rose won't mind if I keep the visuals up. I'd prefer that the viewers enjoy this show! Hahaha!) She flies out the window then goes above the clouds while focusing her abilities.

(I'd better do this quick!) Zira changes her voice to sound like Sengoku and channeled it throughout the island. "ATTENTION ALL LEVELS OF LIEUTENANT AND NON MARINE CAPTAINS! I ORDER YOU TO RETREAT! IF YOU CAN'T HANDLE THESE TORNADOES THEN YOU CAN'T HANDLE WHITEBEARD! HE'S FAR MORE POWERFUL THAN THIS! GET OUT NOW!" She pants from exhaustion as she cancels the echo then lands on a cliff to rest. (Damnit, it took a lot more out of me than I thought… Good luck Rose.)

The marines look around in shock.

"Whitebeard is stronger than this?" One of the marines says

"Can we take this?! Let's do what he says!" The lower level marines start retreating.

Mihawk quirks an eyebrow at the order while destroying one of the tornadoes. "I have a feeling that was a trick."

Aokiji looks up at the barrier. (Did she make the order to avoid casualties?!)

Akainu clenches his teeth as he destroys another tornado. "The infamous outsider is rather clever. I'll be sure that she doesn't leave here alive!"

Ace looks at the crowd in confusion since the barrier blocked out the sound. "What's going on down there?"

"My friend ordered the grunts to retreat with her devil fruit ability. Whoa!" Rose ducked to avoid Garp's punch as he broke her barrier then gave him a twister kick to send him flying halfway down the stairs before recreating the barrier and getting back to the cuffs. (I knew the barrier wasn't strong enough for him! I can't believe Garp took the kick.)

"Get out while you can Rose! The old man's crazy!" Ace says

"I know he's crazy! I dealt with his fist before! Just relax; Whitebeard and your brother are on their way here."

"WHAT?! LUFFY'S COMING?!"

"Yup. You really think he'd leave you behind?" Rose says as she keeps working on picking the lock. (I think I'm starting to get the lock now!)

Ace grits his teeth in rage. (Luffy you idiot! Stay away from here!)

* * *

Sengoku breaks open the door to the control room to find the marines knocked out. The subordinates that came with him managed to regain the connection.

He looks out the window in shock to find that the lower level marines are starting to retreat. "They actually followed that fake order?! Those idiots! This has to be Wind Riders doing!"

He grabs his baby den den mushi and yells in fury while running back to the platform. "ATTENTION EVERYONE! THAT WAS A FAKE ORDER! DO NOT RETREAT! THE ONE WHO HAS BOMBARDED THE EXECUTION IS CATONE ROSE! THIS GIRL IS A MEMBER OF THE STRAW HAT PIRATES AND IS ONE OF THE MOST DANGEROUS ENEMIES IN THE WORLD! SHE IS FROM ANOTHER WORLD! SHE USED THE POWER OF HELL'S COMET TO COME TO THIS WORLD IN ORDER TO CAUSE CHAOS IN HER WAKE! THIS OUTSIDER IS THE DEVIL OF HELL'S COMET!"

The lower level marines freeze and look up at the platform in shock and fear.

"Hell's Comet?!"

"An outsider?!"

"We have Whitebeard and a demon to deal with?!"

Coby looks up in astonishment. "So Luffy managed to recruit someone like that in his crew. Did he know about her?"

Helmeppo shrugs his shoulders. "I'm not sure, but if he didn't then I feel sorry for him..."

Garp glares at her in irritation as he runs back up the stairs. (Did you know what Sengoku was going to say Wind Rider? If so, you have my thanks for protecting his secret even at the cost of yours being revealed. Even so…) "ACE WON'T BE SAVED BY YOU PIRATE BRAT!" He uses his fists to keep trying to break through the barrier while the marines are frozen in shock.

* * *

In Sabaody Archipelago the citizens, journalists and pirates are staring at the visual screen in shock.

"What did he say?! A girl from another world?!" One of the citizens says

"Whitebeard even has demons like them on his side?!" Another citizen says.

Shachi looks at the screen in shock. "Rose is from another world?!" His shocked expression immediately transforms into a look of excitement. "WHOA! SHE'S AMAZING!" Penguin and Bepo nod in agreement as they watch the screen in excitement while Law watches the screen with a smirk.

"So that's what was going on with her. How interesting. Let's see what happens next." They keep watching the screen while the reporters rush to a den den mushi.

"Call the head reporter! This is a big scoop!" The journalists say as they write down what Sengoku said frantically in their notebooks while running.

Flint takes a swig from a bottle of sake in irritation as he watches the journalists writing their stories. "Bunch of story hungry assholes! Selling Roses story for some scoop! Emma, did you mail out the letters?"

She nods as she takes a swig from her own bottle. "I did it as soon as we landed on the island. Her friends deserved to know the truth, but now it's justified. It will be able to make it to them before the newspapers can now… I wish these reporter assholes could get a life! Rose's not some demon!"

"You guys know too?!" Emma and Flint look in shock to see Mari and her fiancé Judi walking up to them.

"Thank goodness! I thought it was just us!" Mari says

Emma blinks in surprise. "Who are you?"

"I'm Mari and this is my fiancé Judi. Rose saved me from being forced to marry a celestial dragon and Judi was brought to the hospital by one of her friends after he was shot by one. I don't care what the world says. Rose's a good person!"

Both of them blink in surprise before grinning.

"You're good people. Wanna join us in watching our friend kick some marine ass?" Flint asks

Judi nods. "That would be great. Thank you." They join them to watch as Rose keeps blocking Garp with the barrier around them.

* * *

The shichibukai look up at the platform in both anger and excitement after hearing the news and trying to avoid and destroy the tornadoes.

"Fufufu! So the secret of the outsider has been revealed! I don't regret being here at all now!" Doflamingo says as he smirks up at the platform.

"That witch! If I ever get my hands on her I'll-" Hancock clenches her fists in fury. (She must have bewitched my beloved Luffy with her other worldly magic! I won't forgive her for her deceit!)

"Kishishishi! So the truth finally comes out for the outsider." Moria says with a smirk as he recovers from the tornado while they work to destroy the rest of the tornadoes.

Ace looks down in worry and confusion for he couldn't hear Sengoku's proclamation. "What's going on down there?!" (Did he tell them my secret?!)

"Don't worry Ace, your secret's safe. I can tell it's my secret he told..." Rose bit her lip as she kept working on the cuffs. (No turning back... I think I almost got the lock.)

"Your secret?! Wait, you knew what Sengoku was going to say?!" (Did she do this to prevent them from knowing I'm the pirate king's son?!) Ace grits his teeth in rage as he jerks the cuffs away from her. "Do you realize what you're doing?! You're making the entire world your enemy! Why are you letting this happen to save me?!"

She twitches an eye in irritation and grabs the cuffs back while getting back to picking the locks while focusing her wind. "As a pirate I'm already an enemy to the World Government, so I don't care about what they think of me. As for why I'm saving your ass I can give you three reasons off the top of my head but the list can pile on! 1. You have people that care about you and don't want you dead! 2. You're a good person. Now shut up and let me help you!"

He blinks in surprise. "Wait, what about the third one?"

"We freckled logia users ought to stick together."

"THAT SHOULDN'T BE ON THE LIST!"

She softly laughs. "Sorry, I was only kidding. The real third reason is that my captain would never forgive me if he found out that I knew what was going on and did nothing."

He blinks in confusion. "Your captain?"

She nods. (I think he's shocked enough about me right now. I'll tell him I'm a part of Luffy's crew later.) "Yup, you know him pretty well. Oh, before I forget if I can't get you out don't fall for Akainu's taunts ok? Alright, I think I got-" Garp managed to send his fist through the barrier and punch Rose to send her flying off the platform.

(Crap!) Before Rose could use her wind her shoulders were grabbed by two talons. She looks up in shock to see Marco in his phoenix form carrying her to his ship. She looks in shock to see Whitebeard and his fleet arriving to the scene. (Looks like it's begun!)

"Gurarara! So the party started without us? We'll have to fix that!" Whitebeard uses his devil fruit powers to create tsunamis to come hurdling towards the island.

Aokiji uses his ice to freeze the waves before they crashed onto the island. "It looks like the war is about to really begin now."

Marco drops Rose on the deck of the Moby Dick and returns to his human form. "I don't know who you are, but thanks for stalling them yoi."

Rose nods with a grin. "I should be the one thanking you for that awesome catch."

Ace looks at them in distress. "Pops, I ignored your warnings and went out on my own… WHY DIDN'T YOU JUST FORGET ABOUT ME?! IT'S MY OWN FAULT I ENDED UP LIKE THIS! TAKE THAT GIRL AND GET YOURSELVES OUT OF HERE WHILE YOU CAN!"

Whitebeard huffs. "I was the one who told you to go son."

Ace looks at him in shock. "LIAR! WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?! I RAN AFTER BLACKBEARD TO AVENGE THATCH EVEN WHEN YOU TOLD ME NOT TO!"

"No, I told you to go. Isn't that right Marco?"

He nods. "Heard it with my own ears. Sorry about this Ace. The world ought to know anyway what happens when they mess with a Whitebeard Pirate!"

"DON'T WORRY ACE! WE'RE COMING!" The rest of the crew yells as most of them jump off the boat and charge the battlefield while Whitebeard turns to Rose.

"Who are you brat?"

Rose looks up at him in awe. (So this is the legendary Whitebeard. Amazing!) "My name's Catone Rose."

"You're here to help?"

She nods. "Don't ask for my reasoning."

"Wasn't going to brat. I can use your help. Consider us allies."

"I'll do what I can to help." She jumps off the ship while unsheathing her twin blades and starts fighting off the marines.

"EVERYONE! TAKE DOWN THE DEVIL OF HELL'S COMET! WE HAVE TO MAKE HER PAY FOR THOSE TORNADOES!" Half of the captains yell as they charge at her.

She twitches an eyebrow as their swords and cannon shots go through her. "Looks like it's true that my secret was revealed to the world. Hehe, 'devil of hell's comet' huh? I much prefer the title you marines gave me, but if you want a wind devil you got one!" She charges at them while they keep trying to attack her. She uses her wind to fly and hit their heads to knock them out one after another as fast as she can with the back of her blades while allowing their strikes to go through her.

She dodges the cannon fire then snaps a tornado at the incoming marine captains to send them flying. She destroys the twister then softens the landing of the knocked out marines. (Akainu should be attacking by now!) She flies up and uses her wind to blow away the magma shots that were aimed at the Moby Dick.

Whitebeard looks at her impressed. "Thanks for the help brat."

"Anytime." Rose jumps back into the fight to knock out as many marines as she could while backing up the Whitebeard Pirates.

Ace watches the fight in shock as Garp takes a seat beside Ace while Sengoku returns to the platform.

"What are you still doing here Garp? Do you have any complaints?" Sengoku asks.

He shakes his head as he crosses his arms over his chest. "I have no pity for pirates. If I wanted to try something I would have done it a long time ago."

"Well then-"

"Shut up Sengoku. As I said I have no pity for pirates… But family is a different matter…" Tears start streaming down Garps face causing Ace to look at him in shock. "Damn you Ace! Why couldn't you live the way I wanted you to?!"

"Gramps…" Ace looks at him sadly while Sengoku scowls at him then continues to watch the battle.

Rose looks up at them sadly while continuing to fight off the marines. (Looks like Garp and Ace are having their moment… Luffy should be arriving soon. I'd better help clear a path for him.)

"WIND RIDER!" Rose turns to see Smoker flying at her with half of his body made of smoke.

(Smoker?! Hahaha, he really does look like Bobby the park cop!) She blocks his jitte with her twin blades with a grin while getting her leg ready for a twister kick. "Bobby! Long time no see! How have you been?!"

Smoker looks at her in confusion. "Who the hell's Bobby?!"

She smirks while kicking him in the gut with her twister kick to send him flying and slams him against a building. "My bad! You look like a cop that used to chase me around the city all the time back in my world."

He recovers with a groan and glares at her. "You should go bother him back in your world."

She chuckles at that. "Where's the fun in going back when I can stay here and mess with you Smokey?"

"Why you!" He launches his smoke at her but she redirects it with her wind then uses her staff to create a whirlwind to send him flying to the opposite side of the battlefield.

"Leave him alone!" Tashigi tries to strike at her from behind but her sword goes through her.

"Sorry Tashigi." Rose attacks her with a twister punch to send her flying and slams her to the ground to knock her out.

(Man, how many more-) She snaps out of her thoughts to look up in shock to see Luffy, Jimbei, Buggy, and the Impel Down convicts falling from the top of the glacier.

(Luffy! Hang on!) Rose uses her wind to soften the fall and bring them to land but had to drop them 10 feet from the ground in order to get away from Moria before he could grab her shadow.

"Moria…" Rose glares at him as she charges at him while he smirks and creates shadow bats to attack her as they face off.

* * *

"What just happened?" Buggy asked as he and the others brushed themselves off from the fall.

Luffy gets up and looks to see Ace on the platform. "ACE! WE'RE COMING! Weird though, that wind was just like-" He cuts himself off when he sees Crocodile about to attack Whitebeard then blocks his attack.

Crocodile recovers and glares at Luffy. "Why are you defending Whitebeard Straw Hat? Don't we have an arrangement?"

Luffy glares back at him. "So this guy really is Whitebeard. I won't let you attack him! Ace cares about him!"

Whitebeard looks at him with interest. "A lot of interesting people are here to fight today. Brat, that straw hat you're wearing. It resembles the one Red Hair used to wear."

Luffy nods. "You know Shanks? I'm borrowing his hat."

"Are you here to save your brother?"

"That's right!"

"Don't you realize who you're up against? You don't stand a chance here."

"Shut up! I'm the one who's gonna save Ace!"

He chuckles at his enthusiasm. "Cheeky brat. Just don't get in my way."

"I don't take orders from you! HANG ON ACE!" Luffy runs through the battlefield while not noticing Rose facing off against Moria at the opposite side of the battlefield.

"Kishishi! Long time no see outsider. You've gotten stronger than the last time we met." Moria says as he tries to attack her with his shadow bats but she sends them flying.

She glares at him as she sheathes her staff to crack her knuckles. "Not long enough in my opinion you asshole. Actually, I take that back. I've wanted to see you since we parted in order to get back at you for not only placing my shadow in Oars, but threatening to reveal my secret at Thriller Bark!" She flies at him while he takes the surrounding Marines' shadows and eats them but Rose gives him a twister punch to the gut to force him to spit them out and send him flying. While he's in the air Rose flies above him and turns both of her arms into twisters then gives him a twister punch to the face and to the gut to slam him to the ground.

"That'll teach you! You son of a bitch!" She nods in satisfaction when she sees Luffy running through the island while being protected by the Whitebeard Division commanders. She flies to follow them while avoiding the marines' attacks and knocking out any marines in her way.

* * *

Ace looks at Luffy in shock as he's running towards the platform. (Damnit Luffy! I don't want to drag you into this too!) He grits his teeth before yelling. "STAY AWAY LUFFY! I SHOULDN'T HAVE TO TELL YOU THIS YOU IDIOT! WE'VE BOTH SAILED THE OCEAN FOR OUR OWN GOALS! I HAVE MY OWN NAKAMA AND ADVENTURES TO LIVE! I DON'T REMEMBER ASKING YOU TO INTERFERE!"

(Ace…) Rose grits her teeth as she beats up the marines in her path while trying to catch up to Luffy.

Luffy punches a marine in his way while yelling up to him angrily. "I'M HELPING YOU BECAUSE I'M YOUR BROTHER! I DON'T CARE ABOUT STUPID PIRATE RULES!" He keeps running while the marines look at him in confusion while attacking.

"These two are brothers?!"

"They do kind of look similar!"

Sengoku gets his baby den den mushi ready. "MONKEY D. LUFFY AND PORTGAS D. ACE ARE NOT RELATED BY BLOOD! LUFFY IS THE SON THE REVOLUTIONARY DRAGON AND-"

Zira flies into the scene and swipes the baby den den mushi from his hand then flies right beside Sengoku as she avoids his arms from grabbing her. "THIS IS WHY I HATE MARINES! YOU'RE WORSE THAN PIRATES!" She screeches in his ear causing him to fall to his knees while recovering as she threw the baby den den mushi off the platform and breaks it. (I refuse to let you tell his secret after you revealed Roses! WAAH!) She dodges the bullets aimed at her while flying away and continually avoids the attacks.

"What the hell was that?!" Garp says as he and Ace are recovering from the screech, but didn't see Zira's attack.

"Twister punch!" Rose punches the snipers aiming at Zira from behind and slams them to the building. "LEAVE HER ALONE ASSHOLES!" She looks up at Zira with a grin as she's flying away. (Thanks for protecting Aces secret.) "Thanks for the help Zira! Get to safety!"

Zira nods as she flies to a safe part of the island to watch the battle while Rose charges forward to fight off the marines in her way.

* * *

Ace bites his lower lip as he lowers his head to the platform to stop himself from crying then lifts his head up. "Gramps…"

"What now?"

"The hand that saves me or the blade that kills me… I won't resist either anymore. I owe everyone that much…"

Garps heart drops to his stomach as he faces the battle and watches as Rose gets slammed to the ground by a marine.

Rose gets back up as she turns her fists into twisters and punches out the marine that slammed her to the ground. (Damnit! Every time I try flying over the marines to get to Luffy I keep getting forced to the ground! I don't want to turn my body into wind unless it's an emergency because of how draining it gets, so I have no choice but to fight through!) She clenches her teeth in frustration as she charges forward while punching out any marines that try to stop her. "GET OUT OF MY WAY!" She sends them flying when she sees Ivankov and Kuma facing off against one another.

"Death Wink!" Ivankov strikes him but the attack doesn't faze him as he fires a beam at him.

"Wind barrier!" Rose blocks the beam then snaps a tornado at him that grows and sends him flying. (Sorry Kuma… Or should I say PX-0… I don't know why you allowed them to do this to you, but I'm sure you have your reason…) "Ivankov, which way did Luffy go?"

Ivankov blinks in surprise before glaring at her. "Who might you be? If you're here to hurt Straw Hat boy I'll be sure to- Wait, you're in that photo of his crew!"

She nods with a grin. "Wind Rider Rose at your service. I've been trying to catch up to Luffy, but I can't find him."

"He went that way Rose-girl! Thank you for the help." He points in Luffy's direction.

She nods. "Thanks Iva-chan. I'm sorry for attacking Kuma. I know he was a good friend of yours as a revolutionary. I'll see you later." She flies away causing Ivankov to gape at her in shock.

"She knew Kuma was a revolutionary?!" He turns to see PX-0 revive and look at Roses direction.

"Wind Rider Rose. 97 million bounty." He aims his paws at her but Ivankov kicks him.

"Wouldn't be right if I couldn't repay the debt to Rose-girl. Be prepared to face my Newkama kenpo!" Ivankov faces off against Kuma while Rose fights through the battlefield.

She freezes as she hears the sound of explosions from the Pacifistas then realizes that she forgot something important. (OH CRAP! I COMPLETELY FORGOT ABOUT SQUARDO!) She turns her body into wind in order to rush back to Whitebeard's ship as quickly as she could.

* * *

Whitebeard turns in surprise to see Squardo walking up to him on the Moby Dick. "There you are Squardo. I tried contacting you earlier."

He nods as he walks with his spear. "My bad old man. It looks like those in the rear are taking a beating from the Pacifistas.

Whitebeard nods. "I'll be joining the battle soon. We too have to push forward."

"True enough. Every one of us does owes you a great debt after all." He turns to Whitebeard while getting his spear ready.

Marco looks at them in confusion. "What's Squardo doing up there?" He freezes in shock to see Squardo about to stab Whitebeard until a gust of wind flies past him and sends Squardo flying in Marco's direction before he could harm him.

Marco slams him to the ground in fury.

(Did Rose do that?! Who exactly is this girl?!) Ace looks at the scene in shock along with everyone else on the battlefield.

(Glad I made it in time to stop it! Akainu that asshole! Manipulating one of Whitebeards sons! If I get my hands on him I'll send him flying to the freaking moon!) Rose rematerializes in one of the back streets away from the battle to sit down from exhaustion and catch her breath. (Turning my body into wind for that long takes too much out of me… I'd better rest here for a bit.) She watches the scene on the Moby Dick as Marco yells at Squardo.

"WHAT WERE YOU TRYING TO DO SQUARDO?!"

Squardo swipes at him with his spear in fury. "Shut up! You're the ones who forced us into this! ADMIT IT WHITEBEARD! YOU MADE A DEAL WITH THE MARINES RIGHT?! YOU PLAN TO SACRIFICE THE 43 CAPTAINS FOLLOWING YOU IN ORDER TO GET YOUR WHITEBEARD PIRATES AND ACE OUT OF HERE!"

The 43 captains look at them in shock as Squardo keeps ranting. "LOOK AROUND EVERYONE! THE MARINES ARE TARGETING ONLY US! AND WE'RE BLOCKED BY THE FROZEN WAVES SO WE CAN'T ESCAPE!"

"IS THIS TRUE BOSS?!" One of the captains yells, but Whitebeard doesn't say anything

Squardo glares at him as he clenches his fists in frustration. "I was even close to a hit too… If that gust of wind didn't stop me I could've done it… I don't care if you kill me! You already sent us to our graves anyway!"

Marco grabs him by the collar of his shirt in fury. "SQUARDO YOU IDIOT! YOU WERE TRICKED!"

Whitebeard walks up to them. "Squardo… You attacked your father with your blade. You're an incredibly stupid son!"

Squardo prepares for a blow but it never comes as Whitebeard reaches down to hug him. "Even though you're stupid I still love you."

Squardo keeps glaring at him. "Don't mess with me! You threw away our lives!"

"Who told you this?"

"Akainu told me everything about your plan! He told me if I killed you we would all be spared!"

Whitebeard gets up and glares at Sengoku. "You haven't lost your touch Sengoku! Going for something as underhanded as this." He raises an arm while ignoring his subordinates' yells. "I would sacrifice my sons' lives?" He slams his fist in the air to create an earthquake to destroy the frozen waves and give the pirates a way to escape. "IF YOU ARE PIRATES CHOOSE FOR YOURSELVES WHO TO BELIEVE!"

The captains look at him in shock before grinning.

"He gave us a way to escape!"

"I knew he wouldn't betray us!"

"I'm gonna kill these marines for doing something so underhanded!"

"IF YOU WANT TO FIGHT WITH ME BE PREPARED TO GIVE UP YOUR LIVES!" Whitebeard yells as he joins the fight.

Squardo freezes in shock then falls to his knees as tears start streaming down his face. "I almost committed a grave sin! I'm sorry pops!"

"If you're sorry then stop crying and make it up to him yoi!" Marco says as he watches Whitebeard fight. (That wind girl must've created that gust of wind to stop Squardo from stabbing him… If it wasn't for that, Whitebeard would have been hit… His condition is worsening.) He clenches his teeth as he and Squardo jump into the fight.

* * *

(That's enough resting! I have to get going!) Rose gets up and rejoins the fight to see Luffy breaking through the plaza while the commanders are fighting.

Rose unsheathes her twin blades and flies over the siege wall with ease then dodges the cannons fired at her and was slammed to the ground by a vice admiral's staff. "Why you!" (This guy has armament haki!) She dodges his next blow while charging forward. "WIND BLADE CROSS!"

He takes the blow and counters while she turns her leg into a twister. "TWISTER KICK!" She manages to send him flying and slams him to a nearby building.

(Man these guys won't quit!) She fights through the marines left and right as she tries to catch up to Luffy while Ace looks down from the platform in distraught then bows his head while trembling.

"What's the matter Fire Fist?" Sengoku says as he and Garp look at him curiously.

Ace can't stop trembling while responding. "I'm awful… I'm so messed up! At a time like this… My old man, nakama, Luffy and even a total stranger are fighting so hard to save me and yet… I'm so happy that I can't stop crying…" He keeps his head ducked as he allows his tears to flow freely onto the platform. "Now when I'm about to die… I want to live!"

Rose looks up at Ace sadly as she keeps charging through the battlefield. (I can't stop now!) She keeps fighting when she sees Marco facing off against Kizaru with a vice admiral ready to put sea stone cuffs on him from behind. (CRAP!) Rose flies over with her leg as a twister. "TWISTER KICK!" She sends the vice admiral flying and knocks him out before he got the cuffs on Marco causing Kizaru and Marco to look at her in shock.

"What the?! You again?!" Marco says as she glares at Kizaru.

"Ooh! Good to see you again outsider." Kizaru says as he smiles at her with ease.

"Sadly, I can't say the same Kizaru." Rose says as she gets ready to fight but Marco touches her shoulder.

"Hold on. He's mine. It's the least I can do since you stopped the cuffs from coming on me and stopped pops from getting stabbed yoi."

She looks at him in shock. "How'd you know it was-? Anytime, thanks Marco." She runs away while Kizaru points a finger at her.

"Like I'd let you get away!" He fires a light beam but it was redirected by Marco's kick.

"Your opponent is me Kizaru." Those two face off while Rose keeps going.

(It should be time for Luffy to get Aces cuffs off soon!) She looks around to see Luffy climbing up to the platform. (I'm on my way Luffy!)

"LOVE ARROW!" She turns and dodges Hancock's love arrows then looks to see a pissed off Boa Hancock facing her. "You little witch! For bewitching my love I will make you pay!"

Rose blinks in surprise before groaning. "Oh, for crying out loud!"

TO BE CONTINUED


	25. Chapter 25

Rose twitches an eyebrow in irritation as she continuously dodges Hancock's kicks while Luffy makes it onto the platform. (Her haki's a real pain in the ass! Damnit, I don't have time for this!) "Hold on Hancock! You've been helping Luffy right?! Then we're on the same side!"

Hancock glares at Rose as she sends her flying with a kick but she quickly recovers and tries to fly away. Hancock jumps above her and tries to kick her to the ground but she dodges by landing. She lands in front of her and continues her barrage of kicks while Rose keeps dodging. "BULLSHIT! You have Luffy wrapped around your finger with your magic! I command you to free him from your spell!"

Rose looks at her in confusion as she slams Hancock to the ground with her wind but she quickly recovers and keeps attacking her. "I don't have a spell on Luffy! Where the hell did you get the idea that I can use magic?!" (What does she think?! I'm the witch from XXX-holic or something?!)

"It's the only thing that makes sense! Luffy chose you over a beautiful woman like me after all!"

She widens her eyes in shock while lightly blushing as she blocks her love arrows with her wind. "What the hell did he say to you?!"

"He said it clear as day to me! It's obvious you've placed a curse on him!" She starts firing love arrows in rage while remembering her conversation with Luffy.

* * *

A few days ago on Hancock and Luffy's trip to Impel Down Hancock is getting the tea ready while Luffy eats the food that she brought in for him.

"So Luffy, why not tell me about your crewmates?" Hancock asks as she pours his tea.

He keeps munching on his food while nodding. "Who should I talk about first? There's Zoro, Sanji, Chopper, Brook, Usopp, Franky, Nami, Robin, oh there's Rose!"

Hancock looks at him in shock while placing the teapot on the table. "There are women in your crew?! Wait, Rose as in Catone Rose?!" (I heard about her! She's the one who came into this world through Hell's Comet! Did she sneak into Luffy's crew to take advantage of him?!)

Luffy nods with a big grin while not reading the atmosphere. "Yup, Rose is great! She's nice, strong, smart, funny and always takes me flying! We're a couple!"

Hancock looks at him in utter horror when she heard the word "couple". (THAT WITCH DID SEDUCE HIM!) "Do you know what Rose actually is Luffy?! She's an outsi-"

He slams his food on the table then glares at her. "Don't call her an outsider! I don't care about any of that! Rose is awesome the way she is!"

She freezes in shock while slowly nodding. (I don't understand! He's so happy when talking about this brat and immediately protects her... That's it! She must've used some sort of magic from her world to control Luffy! That's why he didn't turn to stone from my power after he saw me naked! It's a love spell! Don't worry Luffy! I promise to save you from this witch!)

He gets back to his food while ignoring Hancock's daydreaming while she clenches her fists in silence.

* * *

Rose looks at her in utter shock while her face is completely red from the explanation. (I love you Luffy, but I think you signed my death warrant… Whoa!) She dodges Hancocks blows while trying to fight back but she dodges her attacks.

They both freeze to see the sky filled with fire after Luffy managed to get Ace's sea stone cuffs off.

"Honestly Luffy. You're always doing something reckless." Ace says as he rematerializes from the fire and lands on the bottom of the platform with Luffy. "I never thought I'd be saved by you Luffy. Thank you."

"Shishishi! It's only because the old man and your crew helped me out!" Luffy grins as the two of them fight off the marines striking at them.

"Don't falter marines! We have to kill them both!" The vice admirals yell as they charge at Ace and Luffy but they couldn't handle Luffy and Ace's strength.

Whitebeard grins in satisfaction as he struggles to keep up with the fight against the marines.

"WHOO! ACE IS FREE! CLEAR A PATH FOR STRAW HAT AND ACE!" The Whitebeard pirates and convicts cheer as they continue fighting to help the two of them make a run for it to the ships.

(It's almost time for that moment! I have to get going now!) Rose tries to catch up to them but Hancock blocks her off.

"You're not going anywhere outsider!" (Luffy, great job in saving Ace! I'll be sure to complete my mission and free you of her soon enough!)

Rose clenches her teeth in frustration when she gets sent flying back with a kick by Hancock then counters with a twister punch but she takes the blow and charges at her. (Damnit! Of all the women to have a crush on Luffy it had to be the snake princess! I hope Ace actually listened to my warning-)

"Love love beam!"

Rose snaps out of it to get caught in her beam. (SHIT!) She braces herself to be turned to stone but it doesn't happen. She blinks in confusion then looks down at herself while moving her limbs. "Huh?"

Hancock looks at her in shock then tries again. "Love love beam!" She shoots the beam again but it doesn't turn Rose to stone. "WHAT THE HELL?! WHY DIDN'T YOU TURN TO STONE?!" She charges at Rose in fury and keeps trying to kick her while she dodges.

Rose tilts her head in thought while dodging. "Now that I think about it, the beam only works if someone is attracted to you." (To be honest, the whole time I watched her in the anime she creeped me out to no end. It didn't help her image in that she's a bitch too. Looks like that saved me.)

She snaps out of her thoughts to duck and avoid Hancocks kick to the head. "I get it! Your magic makes you immune to my beauty. I don't care if I have to beat you to death! I demand that you release Luffy from his spell!"

She clenches her teeth in irritation as she turns her arm into a twister. "I keep telling you I didn't use magic on him! I'm not a witch!" She sends Hancock flying with a twister punch to a nearby building but it doesn't faze her as she gets up and charges at her.

"I don't want to hear that crap! If it's true that you're not a witch then what are you doing in this world?! Don't you realize that you're messing with Luffy's life just by existing here?!"

Rose widens her eyes in shock at Hancocks words then gets kicked in the gut and slammed to the ground. Before Rose can recover Hancock pins her to the ground by stepping on her chest.

Hancock "looks down" at her while continuing her rant. "Do you honestly think you could have a chance with him if you didn't use a spell? An ugly bitch like you isn't worthy of being his lover compared to a beautiful woman like me! I'm sure Luffy will thank me once you're gone!" She creates a love arrow and aims at Rose but freezes when the island starts to shake.

They turn to see Whitebeard creating earthquakes while panting from exhaustion as he takes the marines blows.

While Hancock was distracted Rose sent her flying in the air with a twister punch then snaps a tornado from under her and flies above her with both of her arms as twisters. "TWISTER BARRAGE!"

She traps Hancock in the twister barrage then cancels out the tornado and kicks Hancock to the ground.

She lands next to Hancock and glares down at her while they both pant from exhaustion. "You know something Hancock? You're right..."

Hancock widens her eyes in shock then glares at her. "So you really did trap him in a love spell! Then release my love from your curse right-"

Rose cuts her off with a by grabbing the collar of her dress, slams her to a wall then glares at her in the eye. "Shut up Medusa! I can't perform love spells! Do you want to know the reason why he doesn't see you as a lover? It's because you're a cold hearted snake bitch who thinks that you can get whatever you want with your looks!"

Her glare started to soften as she sighed. "That being said, I appreciate your help in getting Luffy this far. What I meant before was you're right in that I've been messing with Luffy's life. Even so, I'm selfish too for wanting to stay by his side... In order to make it up to him I plan to do whatever I can to help him! Now, if you'll excuse me. I have to go send a lava mutt flying, so that the man we both love not only leaves here alive but with his brother!" She lets go of the dress and turns her body into wind to fly as fast as she can to get to Ace and Luffy.

Hancock stares at her in shock then falls to her knees while clenching her fists. (That bitch! I can't believe she attacked me! I underestimated her... If she saves Luffy though, I'll forgive her for this humiliation...) She falls to the ground and passes out.

* * *

Whitebeard starts panting from exhaustion while the Whitebeard pirates look at him in concern.

"Pops! What's wrong?" Namur asks

"You did enough Pops! We should get going!" Whitey says.

Marco clenches his teeth as he faces off against Kizaru. (His condition really is getting worse! Stopping the stabbing just delayed the inevitable…) He keeps fighting Kizaru while Whitebeard turns to the crew.

Whitebeard clenches his spear before yelling. "WHITEBEARD PIRATES! WE'VE ACCOMPLISHED OUR OBJECTIVE HERE! THERE'S NO MORE REASON FOR US TO STAY HERE! THIS IS MY LAST ORDER! YOU WILL ALL PART WITH ME HERE AND LEAVE FOR THE NEW WORLD!"

Ace stares at him in shock along with the Division Commanders.

"WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT POPS?!" Vista yells

"'LAST ORDER?!' YOU'RE PLANNING ON STAYING HERE?!" Haruta yells

Whitebeard raises his arm to get ready to create another earthquake. "The times have passed me by! There's no ship to bring me to the new age!" He creates another earthquake that destroys half of the buildings on the island. "GO NOW!

The Whitebeard Pirates reluctantly started to make a run for it. Most of the marines focus their attention on Whitebeard as they continually strike him with cannon shots.

"FIRE FIST!" Ace shoots fire at the marines around Whitebeard to protect him then gets on his hands and knees and bows to Whitebeard as he turns to his son.

"I don't need your words Ace. I just have one question though. Was I a good father?"

Ace clenches his teeth as he keeps his head down to hold back from crying. "OF COURSE!"

"Gurarara! Thank you, now go!" He laughs as he continues his rampage against the marines.

The pirates pushed Ace and Luffy forward in order for them to get away while covering them against the marines.

Ace clenches his fists as he keeps running. (Pops, I'm sorry for this and thank you… Wait, that Rose girl! What happened to her?! Did she get away?!) He searches the battlefield for Rose while making a run for it with Luffy.

Luffy looks at him in confusion. "You forget something Ace?"

He shakes his head. "I'm looking to see if that pirate girl's still here! I didn't see her when we got off the platform!"

Luffy quirks an eyebrow in confusion. "Pirate girl?"

He nods with a grin. "Yea, you should have seen her! She swooped in out of nowhere before the war started and stopped my secret from getting out! I'm also sure it was her that stopped Squardo from stabbing Pops! It was amazing! It's like she knew exactly what was going to happen!"

Luffy's eyes widened in shock then stopped running causing Ace to stop as well. "What's the matter Lu?!"

(Is Rose really here?!) He looks at Ace with a serious look on his face. "Ace, this girl... Did she have long brown hair, freckles, and big cute purple eyes?"

Ace looks at him in shock. (Did he just say "cute"?! Wait!) "Yea, exactly! Do you know her?!"

He widens his eyes in shock. "She's in my crew! And we're a couple!"

"WHAT?!" Ace's eyes widen as he remembers what Rose said. ("My captain would never forgive me if he found out that I knew what was going on and did nothing.") "You're her captain?! Wait, did you just say 'a couple'?!"

Akainu blasts through the pirates behind Ace and Luffy then walks up to the pair. "Everyone saves Ace and now they're running away? What a bunch of cowards. But with a loser like Whitebeard as a captain there's no helping it."

"What did you say?" Ace turns to Akainu angrily as he continues taunting him.

"Gold Roger stood in his way and even after he died Whitebeard still couldn't become Pirate King. You're all just a bunch of thugs playing house on the sea."

"Just ignore him Ace! Keep going!" Some of the Whitebeard Pirates try to hold him back but he ignores them.

"Take it back! What do you know about Whitebeard's greatness?!" ("Don't fall for Akainu's taunts".) He shakes his head to ignore Roses warning.

"He sailed across the seas for decades and didn't accomplish anything. I even convinced one of his idiotic sons to try to stab him with some sweet talk and he still wants to protect him!"

Flames start growing out of Ace at every word while ignoring his comrades' protests. "SHUT UP! Whitebeard is the man who created this era!"

"Whitebeard will die as a loser! A befitting death for the king of trash!"

"This era will be known as Whitebeard!" Ace couldn't hold back anymore as he blasts his fire fist at Akainu but he countered with his magma and overpowered Aces fire causing his hand to get burned.

"Ace!" Luffy goes to help him but he falls on his hands and knees from exhaustion and drops Ace's vivre card in front of him. (His card!)

Akainu looks to Luffy while Ace is recovering from the blow. "You shouldn't overestimate your abilities Fire Fist. Magma overpowers fire just as how justice overpowers evil. Great sins run through both of you. I'll never let you two stay alive. Take a good look Fire Fist Ace!" He launches a magma fist at Luffy while he reaches for Ace's vivre card.

"LUFFY!" Ace musters up the last of his strength to run in front of Luffy when a gust of wind picks both of the boys up along with the vivre card before Akainu could touch them.

Akainu clenches his teeth in frustration. "Speaking of cursed bloodli- WAAH!" A tornado grew from under him causing him to go flying.

The surrounding Whitebeard Pirates stare in shock as the wind drops the boys and Rose rematerializes next to them on all fours while catching her breath.

"SHE SAVED ACE AND LUFFY!"

"WHOA! WHO IS THAT GIRL?!"

"DOESN'T MATTER! WE GOTTA COVER THEM!" They fight off the surrounding marines that are charging at them while Rose, Ace, and Luffy are recovering.

Luffy sits up and looks at her in shock. "Rose! You really are here! Why didn't you tell me?! Are you ok?"

Rose smiles at him while lightly panting. "Sorry Luffy, I was held up by a bunch of marines. Don't worry, I'll be fine." She slowly stands up while looking at her hand that's holding Ace's vivre card to see it in perfect condition. (I did it! I can't believe I saved Ace! Holy crap that was too close!) "Are you two ok?!"

Luffy and Ace nod as they get up causing Rose to nod with a satisfied grin then motions her hand for Ace. "Good then Ace, please come here for a second."

He walks up to her curiously only to get punched in the nose and knocked on his butt. "WHAT PART OF 'DON'T FALL FOR AKAINU'S TAUNTS' DID YOU FREAKING NOT UNDERSTAND?!"

He looks up at her in shock while cradling his aching nose. "What was I supposed to do?! Let him keep bad mouthing Whitebeard?!"

"You're supposed to make sure you live! Every pirate here is fighting so that you DON'T die! Words won't hurt Whitebeard! Your death however, would have broken not only his heart but Luffy's and so many other peoples that it's not even funny!"

"Rose…" Luffy says causing Rose to turn away from Ace while he's frozen in shock to see him on the brink of tears. "You don't mean that Ace was-"

Rose walks over to him and hands him Ace's vivre card with a soft grin. "It doesn't matter anymore. See?"

He slowly nods before taking the card and pulling her into a hug. "Thank you so much Rose! I love you!" He kisses her on the cheek while he keeps a hold on her.

She looks at him in shock while lightly blushing then hugs him back with a large grin. "I love you too." (Damnit, I missed him.)

"Ahem." Roses blush doubles as she remembers where they are and lets go of him to turn to a surprised Ace.

"You two really are a couple?!"

She sheepishly rubs the back of her head. "Y-yea. Sorry for not telling you when I tried to pick the cuffs. I felt you were too shocked to take in anymore news. Right now we'd better get out of here before the lava mutt comes back. Can you guys still run?"

They both nod but when Luffy takes a step he starts tumbling causing her to catch him. (Crap! Ivankov's hormones wore off! It'll be too dangerous to fly with the admirals able to attack...)

"Allow me to take him." Jimbei says as he runs up to them. "I don't know who you are girl, but you have my gratitude for rescuing Ace and Luffy."

She shakes her head. "I should be the one thanking you for helping us Jimbei. Are you able to carry Ace too? He's also at his limit and we can't afford him facing Akainu again."

"What?! Why should I take orders from-" Ace shuts himself up under Roses glare causing Whitebeard to chuckle as he watches the scene while fighting off the surrounding marines.

"Gurarara. She's one interesting girl, she has my thanks for saving Ace. She's worthy of being my daughter." He runs to Akainu who's recovering from Roses tornado. "This is for almost killing my son!" Whitebeard uses his haki to slam Akainu to the ground then faces off against Akainu's magma while the Whitebeard Pirates run up to Rose, Luffy, Ace, and Jimbei and help them escape.

"Thank you for helping young lady! Let's work together to get out of here!" Vista says as he and the other commanders help clear a path for Jimbei as he carries the brothers while Rose runs with them.

"Thanks Vista!" Rose unsheathes her twin blades to fight off the marines with Jimbei close behind.

Luffy stares at the ground before facing Rose. "Rose, how long have you known about this war?"

She doesn't look at him while answering. "A long time... I'm sorry for not telling you… I know I have a lot of explaining to do. I promise that you'll know the truth about everything once we're out of here." (If not from me then the letter I planted on you from that hug…)

Luffy shakes his head with a grin. "Don't worry about it! As long as we get out together I'm happy!"

She softly grins as she keeps fighting off the marines.

Ace looks at the ground for a moment before facing her. "Thank you. Not only for saving me, but also for protecting my secret."

She blinks in surprise after kicking a marine in the gut then grins at him. "You're welcome Ace, I'm just glad you're ok. Jimbei, a yellow sub-"

A giant earthquake cuts her off as everyone on the ground struggles to keep their balance to see that Whitebeard has split the island in two after sustaining terrible burns on his face from Akainu.

"Pops…" Marco clenches his fists after knocking out Kizaru then helps the pirates who are dangling on the ledge get onto the surface. "EVERYONE, GET TO THE SHIPS AND GET OUT OF HERE!"

The Whitebeard pirates hold back their tears while fighting off the marines to start boarding the ships when they hear a familiar laugh.

"Zehahaha! So you failed in killing Ace huh Sengoku?"

(SHIT!) Rose along with the pirates and marines look to see Blackbeard and the level 6 Impel Down convicts with him.

"Teach…" Ace grits his teeth as he struggles out of Jimbei's grip but it's no good as Jimbei keeps a strong hold on him as he runs.

"I know you're angry Ace, but you can't fight him now!" Jimbei says as he keeps carrying Ace while ignoring his struggles.

"He's right Ace, wait to fight him another day when you get stronger!" Rose says as she clenches her twin blades while fighting. (To be honest, I'd love to kick that traitor's ass more than anyone, but as I am now it won't do any good…)

"…Fine..." Ace clenches his fists as they keep going.

* * *

"TEACH!" Whitebeard uses his devil fruit abilities to create an earthquake to slam Blackbeard to the ground.

Blackbeard coughs as he staggers back up. "I guess you're not going to hold back against your son pops."

"You're not my son anymore! You broke the only ironclad rule I had by killing Thatch! I DON'T WANT ANYONE TO INTERFERE! I'LL MAKE SURE THATCH RESTS IN PEACE BY KILLING THIS BASTARD!"

Blackbeard smirks as he creates a black hole under them. "Zehahaha! You really think that you can win? Thatch is dead and soon you will be too! I used to respect you as a pirate but you got too old! Black Whirlpool!" He turns his arm into darkness and lunges at Whitebeard but he counters causing him to cancel out his devil fruit abilities.

"How do you like not being able to-" He's cut off when Whitebeard thrusts his spear into his shoulder.

"You always overestimated yourself." Whitebeard grabs his face with one hand and slams him to the ground.

Blackbeard agonizes in pain as Whitebeard looms over him and gets ready to punch him.

Blackbeard looks up at him in utter fear. "YOU'RE A MONSTER! A HALF DEAD MONSTER! JUST DIE ALREADY! KILL HIM MEN!"

The level 6 convicts attack Whitebeard mercilessly while the division commanders weep for their captain.

"Pops…" Ace bites his lip as he keeps his eyes on Whitebeard while Luffy clenches his fists in silence.

"I'm sorry Ace…" Rose says as she clenches onto her blades. (Even stopping the stabbing couldn't stop him from dying…) She attacks the surrounding marines in rage as they keep going.

The convicts finished up their ammo and watch as Whitebeard is on his last dying breath.

He looks down at Blackbeard who's looking up at him in fear. "Haa… It's not you Teach… The man Roger's waiting for is definitely not you… Haa… The ones who have inherited Roger's will are still alive. I wasn't interested, but when someone does find that treasure the world will be shaken to its core. Somebody will find it that day will surely come. EVERYONE, THE ONE PIECE IS REAL!"

"Wow..." Luffy looks at him softly as he and the Whitebeards quietly mourn for their captain.

(Goodbye Whitebeard…) Rose bit her lip as she and the others look to see Whitebeard standing with pride as he breathes his last breath.

* * *

"GET TO THE SHIPS EVERYONE!" Marco yells as he flies over to Jimbei's group. "How are you holding up Ace and Luffy yoi?"

"We're ok!" Luffy says.

Ace looks down in guilt. "Marco, I'm sorry about-"

"Don't worry about it yoi. Pops wouldn't want you to feel guilty."

He slowly nods as Marco turns to Rose. "Thanks for protecting these two. Who exactly are you?"

"Wind Rider Rose. A proud member of the Straw Hats."

He widens his eyes in shock then looks to Luffy who's nodding with a large grin.

"Yup, she's a part of my crew! We're also a cou-"

Rose rushes over to him and covers his mouth with a light blush on her face. "He doesn't need to know about that Luffy!"

Marco looks at them in shock while Ace softly chuckles.

"Let's just focus on getting out of here." Jimbei says as they reach the docks.

"GET ON THE SHIP!" One of the pirates yells when suddenly the ocean starts to freeze.

Everyone turns in shock to see Aokiji freezing the ocean.

(CRAP!) Rose starts running to Aokiji but stops when a pillar of magma shoots from the ground and reveals Akainu.

Akainu lightly pants from exhaustion while glaring at Rose, Luffy and Ace. "I already said that I won't let you filthy pirates live. That especially includes you Devil of Hell's Comet."

Rose clenches her teeth while Ivankov runs behind them. "Jimbei-boy, we'll cover you guys! Go!"

Rose and Jimbei make a run for it while Ivankov and Marco faces off against Akainu.

("Devil of Hell's Comet"?) Luffy looks at Rose in confusion. "Rose, what did he mean by- WHOA!" Jimbei jumps off the island to get onto the ice with Rose flying right behind them.

Akainu blasts his magma at Ivankov and Marco to get them out of his way then uses his magma to send himself flying. "Just accept your fates and die!" He aims his magma at the boys, but Rose sends Jimbei flying with a twister kick to get them away from Akainu's blast and blocks the blow with a twister punch.

Rose smirks at Akainu while he glares as her. "You said magma beats fire right lava mutt?! Well wind hardens magma!"

She launches a twister punch with her other arm at him while he tries to counter but the wind hardens his magma and forces him to get sent flying. She manipulates her arm to slam Akainu into Blackbeard who was demonstrating his new quake powers and knocks both of them onto the ground.

Akainu grits his teeth in fury as he rushes back to the docks.

"What the hell?" Blackbeard looks up in shock to see Rose in the air flipping him off as she flies away.

(That's not even a fraction of what Blackbeard deserves, but I'll take it!) She looks to see Buggy flying with his upper half holding onto the boys for dear life as she catches up to them. "Way to go Bug-"

Aokiji raises himself up with his ice to Rose and imbues haki in his ice to slam her to the ground. He lands in front of her and creates an ice barrier around them to seal Rose inside.

(Shit!) Rose tries to fly out but the barrier was sealed off before she could escape.

"ROSE!" Luffy tries to get out of Jimbei's grip but he refuses to let go.

"You can't face him when you can't even get out of my grip Luffy!" He strengthens his grip on Luffy to keep him from falling off.

"We can't just leave her alone to face Aokiji! I'll get her out with my fire!" Ace musters up as much energy as he could to launch a fire fist at the barrier, but Akainu blocks the blow.

"I said I won't let you live didn't I?!" He goes to launch himself into the air again but Crocodile and Marco block him.

"Vista and Namur, see if you can break the barrier to get Rose out of there! Everyone else, take care of Akainu!" Marco says causing them to nod as they work on breaking the barrier.

"Looks like everyone here's gonna stand in our way!" Akainu says as he glares at Crocodile and the division commanders.

"As if we'd let you kill our brother. As for Luffy and Rose, we've seen their strength! After going so far to protect Ace it's our duty to send them to the new age!" Izo says as they get ready to fight.

"You Whitebeard Pirates are utter fools!" Akainu turns his arm into magma as he charges towards the Whitebeard Pirates.

* * *

(DAMNIT!) Rose tries to break the ice barrier with her twister punch but it's too thick. She lands on the ground to dodge Aokiji's ice spears then unsheathes her twin blades as she glares at Aokiji. ( I don't know how much more I can take… I just have to hold out until Shanks comes to end the war.)

Aokiji keeps a straight face as he starts creating ice spears. "Good to see you again Wind Rider."

"Likewise Aokiji. Ready to go?"

He nods as they face off. "I take it after this war is when I face Akainu?"

She nods as she blocks his ice spears with her wind barrier and then gives him a twister kick but he blocks. She flies up to him with her blades and swings for the legs causing him to jump and meet an expected twister kick to slam him to the wall.

(I might as well give him a warning.) She smirks as she tries to swipe at his legs again. "I'd watch my legs if I were you. You never know when one's gonna get cut off!"

His eyes widen in shock as he dodges her swords and creates an ice pheasant to attack her.

"WIND BLADE CROSS!" She cuts through the ice then snaps a tornado before turning into wind. Aokiji blocks the twister with his ice and then gets hit in the side by a twister kick.

He creates two ice pheasants to corner her but she jumps in the nick of time to escape only to get slammed to the ground by his ice. "I'm impressed Rose. You've grown a lot compared to when we first met."

She staggers back up then charges at him. "I was still new to this world back then."

He blocks her attack then counters causing her to dodge as they keep exchanging blows. "I want to ask you one thing."

"Go ahead."

"Now that you're seen as a devil do you regret coming to this world?"

Rose widens her eyes at the question but then shakes her head with a soft grin as they fight. "The one thing I won't regret is coming to this world. After all, this world has brought me so close to my dream that I can practically taste it. And now I have people I really cherish. If letting myself be seen as some demon is the cost of staying and helping the people I care about be happy then so be it."

(Rose… If only you didn't become a pirate…) He clenches his fists and kept going with his barrage of attacks as Vista and Namur start creating cracks in the barrier.

* * *

"LET ME GO JIMBEI! I GOTTA GET ROSE OUT OF THERE!" Luffy won't stop struggling as Jimbei keeps a strong grip on him.

"I keep telling you it won't do any good! You were barely able to stand before! Ouch!" Jimbei winces as Ace tries to burn his arm to get him to let go of him, but it only causes him to grip onto him tighter to make him stop. "You're even worse Ace! If Rose didn't send you flying from Akainu's attack you would have died! She told you to live did she not?! So knock it off!"

Ace winces at the grip as he glares at Jimbei. "I can't just leave her trapped down there after what she did for me! She's reaching her limit too!"

Buggy looks at them in irritation as he holds onto them for dear life. "You guys can argue all you want when I'm not carrying you! What the hell do I-" A yellow submarine surfaces from the water right under Buggy.

"BRING THEM HERE!" Law yells as he, Bepo, and Jean Bart run out onto the deck.

"TAKE THEM! GOOD RIDDANCE!" Buggy throws them at the sub for them to get caught by Jean Bart.

"Great! Then let's- Wait, what happened to Rose-ya?"

"She's facing Aokiji right now! I gotta go help her!" Luffy says as he tries to run off the sub with Ace but the two of them are held back by Jimbei and Jean Bart.

"I keep telling you two that you can't help her!" Jimbei says as he holds Luffy back while Jean Bart holds Ace back.

Law nods in agreement as he motions for Bepo to get some sedatives. "He's right. I'm sure she has some other worldly tricks up her sleeve to escape. We have to get ourselves out while we can."

Luffy looks at him in confusion as he struggles. "What are you talking ab-"

*CRASH* The guys look in shock to see Vista, and Namur break the barrier to see Rose on her knees while Aokiji looms over her.

"Hold on Rose!" Vista goes to pick her up but Aokiji attacks him with an ice sword causing him to block.

Namur goes to attack Aokiji from behind only for him to dodge and starts freezing the two of them.

Rose clenches her teeth in frustration as the wind around her picks up. "Leave them alone!"

Rose sends him flying with a twister punch as the wind gets stronger around her, but he immediately recovers as he walks up to her while Vista and Namur are half frozen and can't fight.

"Chill Rose, I didn't forget about you. I have something special in mind for you." He creates an ice sword as the wind wraps around her limbs and creates her wind armor.

(The wind armor from Thriller Bark? I'll take what I can get right now in order to get away!) Rose growls as she takes Namur and Vista with her and makes a run for it with Aokiji in pursuit.

Vista and Namur stare at her in shock as she places them on one of the stolen battleships then starts flying away from Aokiji while panting from exhaustion.

"Like I'd let you get away!" Aokiji infuses his ice with armament haki and launched it at her. She dodged then launched a twister punch at Aokiji that slammed him to the ground. While Aokiji took the hit he pushed his haki imbued ice through the barrier and trapped her right arm in ice.

(SHIT!) She works to get her hand free while Aokiji used his ice to lift himself up in the air. He frees her hand only to force his hand through her wind to grab her by the neck and slams her to the ground to knock her out and cancel the armor.

Luffy and Ace watch in horror as Aokiji approaches her with a new ice sword while she lays on her back unconscious.

Luffy tries to get into second gear but he's too tired causing him to struggle even harder under Jimbei's grip. "LET ME GO DAMNIT! I GOTTA HELP HER! GET UP ROSE!"

Ace clenches his teeth in rage as he tries to use his fire only to feel a needle in his neck and fall unconscious by Bepo's sedative. "I'm sorry…" He picks Ace up over his shoulder and carries him inside while Luffy keeps struggling, but freezes to see Rose stabbed in the stomach by Aokiji's sword.

He doesn't take his eyes off of her as tears appear in his eyes as he struggles to get to her harder than ever. "ROOSSEE!" Shachi snuck up behind him and stuck a sedative in his neck to knock him out while holding back his own tears.

Law nods in approval as he and the others rush inside with Jimbei carrying Luffy and they make a break for it to avoid the incoming battleships.

* * *

Marco and the surrounding Whitebeard Pirates watched in horror as Aokiji stabbed Rose and left the ice sword in her stomach.

Marco clenches his fists in rage as he runs towards Aokiji but gets blocked by Akainu.

"For once that ice head did something right and killed the outsider. I refuse to let anyone else escape!" He launches a magma fist at Marco only to be blocked by Shanks' sword.

The pirates and marines look in shock to see Shanks' ship approaching the island.

"What the hell?! Shanks is here?!"

"What's a yonko doing here?!"

Shanks sheathes his sword as he turns his gaze to the crowd. "I'm here to end the war."

"Red Hair…" Marco says as he clenches his fists.

"Marco, withdraw your men and take that girl with you." He points to Rose causing him to nod as he rushes over to her. "Fighting anymore will only cause meaningless casualties. But, if anyone else wants to go at it my crew will be more than willing to take you on!"

Blackbeard smirks while nodding in understanding. "Zehahaha! I got what I came here for, so there's no need to be fighting you yet. Let's go men!" He and his subordinates retreated while Shanks turned his attention to Sengoku.

"Whitebeard, and the girl. We'll take care of their burials. You broadcasted their deaths to the entire world. I refuse to have you humiliate them any further."

One of the vice admirals turns to Sengoku in rage. "DON'T LISTEN TO HIM SENGOKU! SHOWING OFF THEIR HEADS WILL SHOW SOME CONSOLATION FOR NOT KILLING ACE!"

Sengoku shakes his head. "Since it's you Red Hair I'll take responsibility for this."

He nods in approval. "Thank you."

"MEN! ATTEND TO THE WOUNDED! THIS WAR IS OVER!" Sengoku yells causing the marines to start pulling back.

* * *

Marco looks down at Roses body sadly then kneels beside her as he gently takes the ice sword out of her. "I'm sorry yoi…"

He gently picks her up then freezes in shock to feel that she's faintly breathing. (What the hell?! She's still alive?!)

"Rose was a strong woman. One of the very few pirates that I will ever respect." Aokiji says with a straight face as he walks up behind Marco as he turns to him in shock.

"It's a shame that I had to do this. But, now that she's dead the world will be content and she won't have to be hunted down now. I leave the rest to you." He winks at Marco with a ghost of a grin before walking off causing Marco to stare at him in shock.

(He missed her vitals on purpose?! I gotta get her treated now!) He takes her to one of the ships as quickly as possible without raising suspicion to get her treated as they depart for the New World.

TO BE CONTINUED


	26. Chapter 26

**A/N: Hi everyone. Thanks for the great reviews. This chapter contains a lot of sadness due to the truth and the fake death being revealed to the Straw Hats. If you don't want to deal with the feels then please wait until the next chapter. Everyone's letters except for Robin's and Luffy's are generally the same so i'm only going to show Zoro's version. (If you wish to see the other letters then I'll try to make them.)**

* * *

Zoro grips his letter from Rose in fury as he reads it while taking a break from fighting the baboons in front of Mihawk's mansion on Kuroigana Island.

 **Hi Zoro,**

 **If you're reading this then that means it's time to tell the truth… I'm sorry, I knew about Kizaru and Kuma's attack. Don't worry though everyone's safe. I didn't try to stop it because I knew that where each of us were sent to were places that will get us strong enough for the New World.**

 **The truth that I have to tell you though is how I actually know this… I'm not a psychic like Robin told you guys. I played along with it because I was scared of how everyone would react if you guys knew the truth. The reason I know so much binds with how I wound up on the Merry, so I'll tell you that first. One night, I was home recovering from a fight I had with my foster family. Then, I saw the Timore Comet flying in the night sky from my window. I made a wish on it to get me out of my world and into one of the worlds that I read about in my stories. Thanks to the crystal in my necklace that was collecting the comets energy at the time my wish came true, for the next morning I woke up on the Going Merry.**

 **I know it's hard to believe that I'm from another world, but it's the truth. The reason that I know so much is that I read about this world and the crew's adventures long before I came here. I still have information as proof. Mihawk is coming to the island you're on because it's his home. If that's not enough I also know that you trained your swordsmanship at Koshiro's dojo back in East Blue. I'm sorry I deceived you and the others… I sent letters like this to everyone, so they all know the truth now. I'm telling you now, because I fought in a war to help Luffy save Ace which caused the secret to be revealed to the world. You guys deserved to learn the truth from me, so I got these sent hopefully before the papers got to you. When we all meet again in Sabaody I'll accept any punishment you guys dish out for this.**

 **I'll see you soon. Good luck and be careful with the baboons.**

 **Rose**

Zoro grits his teeth in rage as he finishes reading. "That little brat!" He stuffs the letter in his pocket, grabs his swords then gets up and starts running to get to the baboons. "'Scared of how everyone would react to you?!' 'You'll accept any punishment we dish out?!' You're such an idiot Rose! Who cares about this other world crap?! WHEN WILL YOU QUIT ACTING LIKE YOU'RE NOT A PART OF THE FREAKING CREW?!"

"What's with the shouting?!" Perona asks as she floats next to Zoro.

He freezes then glares at Perona. "You knew about Rose too didn't you?!"

She quirks an eyebrow in confusion. "Do you mean about the whole other world deal? Of course! It's why Master Moria placed her shadow into Oars. You didn't know?"

He clenches his fists in fury. "Her enemies knew, yet she kept it all to herself around us…" (Damnit Rose! Your trust in us was so low that you felt that you had to pretend to be psychic to keep it from us?!) He ran to the left which is the opposite direction of the baboons.

"That's the wrong way!" Perona says.

Zoro freezes to go the opposite direction and faces an army of baboons. He unsheathes his swords to get ready to charge when the baboons freeze when they see Mihawk behind him.

"What are you doing on my island Roronoa?"

(So she was right about this too…) Zoro glares at him as he gets in a stance.

Mihawk huffs. "Relax, I won't attack you. You're in no condition to face me. How did you get here?"

"Your friend Kuma sent us flying causing us to get separated."

He nods in understanding. "That explains why Rose invaded Marineford alone while Luffy stormed the island later on with a group of convicts."

He widens his eyes in shock. "You saw Rose and Luffy?! What happened to them?!"

"Luffy's fine, but his heart was dealt a great blow."

"What?! What happened to him?! And what about Rose?!"

"Rose made sure Luffy and his brother escaped the war with their lives. But, she was caught in a battle with Aokiji and was killed."

He froze as he processed his words. "What did you say?"

"Wind Rider Rose died while Luffy watched helplessly."

He widened his eyes in horror as tears start appearing in his eyes. ("I hope there are no hard feelings from this morning Zoro. Since we're nakama now, let's be friends." DAMNIT!) He clenched his eyes shut to hold back from crying then opens them as he charges at the baboons in rage.

(Rose, you idiot! If you had just let us in this wouldn't have happened!) He grits his teeth on the scabbard as he blocked the baboons' strikes.

Tears started appearing in his eyes again, but he ignored them and kept slashing through the baboons. (I'm sorry if being harsh on you at the beginning caused you to close yourself up… Luffy, please be ok at least! I'll be there soon!) He fights the baboons endlessly while Mihawk watched from a distance with a soft look on his face.

* * *

"ROOSSEE!" Nami yells in fury as she stuffs her letter in her bag and gets her stuff ready to leave Weatheria while ranting under her breath. "I can't believe her! She finally told me where New York is, but through a letter! Played this psychic charade while bottling up her fear of us knowing about her! Worst of all, she finally confessed to Luffy but still feels like we're gonna hate her for being from another world! When I get my hands on her I'll give her a fine so large that it'll have to be passed down to her and Luffy's grandkids before it's paid off!"

She grabs her bag and starts running but freezes when she sees the news coo flying down to her.

(I might as well have some reading material for the ride down.) She takes the newspaper from the bird and goes to put it away, but freezes in shock to see a picture of Rose on the front cover.

"W-what's this?" She looks in terror to see a picture of Rose lying unconscious on the ground with an ice sword planted in her stomach and blood surrounding her.

 **Straw Hat pirate Catone Rose invaded the War of the Best and aided Whitebeard and Straw Hat Luffy in preventing Fire Fist Ace's execution. This girl is a demon that came to this world by using the power of Hell's Comet in order to spread chaos to the world. She used her other worldly knowledge and devil fruit ability to bombard the war with tornadoes, and create a fake order in an attempt to weaken the Marines forces before the war started. This witch was slain by the heroic Admiral Aokiji while she was trying to flee with Fire Fist and Straw Hat. The whereabouts of these two pirates are unknown, but their likeliness of survival are high.**

Nami covered her mouth to smother her sobbing as she fell on her knees and started crying. ("If you're that worried about money I can help. We just need a guitar." "I'm from a city called New York." "Thanks guys, you're the best.")

She couldn't stop sobbing as she glares at the article. (She's not some demon or witch you assholes! She's my friend! *Gasp!* Luffy watched her die! He must be tortured right now! I have to go help him!) She gets up while still weeping, grabs her stuff, and starts making a run for it to get out of the island.

* * *

"What the hell?!" Franky says as he reads his letter in shock while he and Kitton are restocking on cola in Vegapunk's abandoned house on Karakuri Island.

"What's the matte big bro?" Kitton asks as he grabs a bottle of cola for himself from the fridge.

"My crazy crewmate pretended to be psychic to keep her secret hidden about being from another world!" (I can't believe Freckles knew why I had to turn myself into a cyborg and about Tom… No wonder she was so ruthless towards Spanda! Hehe, she sure is something.) His look of shock changed into a grin as he stores cola into his stomach fridge. "I'll admit this is SUPER crazier than being psychic, but to think that we'd hate her for this?! I can't go around hating someone who's like my little sister! I'm getting out of here to knock some sense into her."

He goes to pack up some extra bottles of cola when a newspaper article starts printing from one of Vegapunks machines.

He quirks an eyebrow as he takes the page then freezes in horror. "Fr-freckles?!" He couldn't take his eyes off Roses picture as tears start swelling up. ("Did I ever tell you how much I like it when you call me 'Freckles' Franky? Well, I do. I'll see you around big bro.") "NOO! WAAH! IS THIS SOME SICK JOKE?! We finally understand her and she dies?! What kind of big bro am I if I can't even protect my little sister?!"

"Big bro…" Kitton walks up to him sadly and hugs him while he wipes his tears.

"Thanks kid. I have to get to the others. No doubt they're hurting too…" (Just hang tight guys. Big bro's coming!) He packs up his cola quickly and leaves to try to get to Sabaody.

* * *

Robin giggles at her letter while the revolutionaries are taking care of the escapees of Tequila Wolf.

 **Hi Robin,**

 **If you're reading this that means the others know about me now. I went to go fight in a war to help Luffy save Ace. The cost of me going to that battle though was having my secret be revealed to the world. I made these letters and sent them to everyone so that they would learn the truth from me. I want to thank you again for covering for me. Seeing the others react to me so kindly when they thought I was psychic along with your support helped me work up the courage to write these. I promise to take responsibility for the psychic act. I'm not gonna lie, I'm still worried about how they'll react to me but I'm also glad that I won't have to hide anymore. Oh yea, guess what?! On the island I landed on I saw Spandine! He was the warden on a prison island! I gave him a good beat down and released all the convicts! You should have seen the look on his face when I landed on him! That jerk didn't know what hit him! Hahaha anyway, you're in good hands with the revolutionaries so don't worry about them.**

 **I'll see you back in Sabaody.**

 **Rose**

She stares at the letter with a soft grin then places it in her pocket. "I'm glad to know I did the right thing by covering for her. Seeing everyone in Sabaody will be a fun reunion." She starts walking when a member of the revolutionaries walks up to her.

"Nico Robin, please wait. Here." He gives her a jacket to warm up in the snow.

"Thank you, but how do you know my name?"

"Everyone in the Revolutionary Army knows your name. I would like to ask that you trust us and come with us."

She softly shakes her head. "I'm sorry. I do trust you, but I made a promise with my friends to meet them."

He nods in understanding then freezes. "You're referring to the Straw Hat crew correct? I'm so sorry…"

She quirks an eyebrow in confusion. "Sorry for what?"

"You don't know?! It's best if you learn about it from your crew then..."

She shakes her head. "Please tell me. I'm interested to hear."

He bites his lip before nodding. "Very well… In the recent war in Marineford Catone Rose and Monkey D. Luffy managed to rescue Portgas D. Ace from dying. However, while fleeing Rose was forced to fight Aokiji and was killed in battle…"

Robin completely froze in dread then grabbed his shoulders frantically. "That can't be right! Are you sure?!"

He slowly nodded. "I'm sorry…"

"No…" (Aokiji, why?! Wasn't it bad enough that you killed Saul?!) Tears started streaming down her face as she lets go of him and runs to an isolated part of the island. She sits down to cry as she takes out her picture of the crew.

"Rose… Please tell me it's not true…" She keeps staring at the photo hoping for an answer but is only answered with silence. ("I know you're not a curse!" "I'm the Straw Hat Pirates' astronomer, nothing less." "Thanks again Robin… For everything.") She starts sobbing as she stares at the picture and allows her tears to land on Roses spot in the photo.

* * *

Chopper reads his letter with stars in his eyes after he treated his injuries in the infirmary in the Torino Kingdom. "Rose is from another world?! I always knew she was cool, but this is awesome!" He keeps reading it then looks at it sadly. "She must've been really scared if she felt that she had to pretend to be psychic… When we meet again I'm gonna support her!"

He nods to himself as he starts grabbing his stuff and accidentally knocks the new newspaper to the floor. He goes to pick it up when he sees Roses picture and stops himself in his tracks. "W-what's this?"

He slowly picks it up and reads the article. He slowly shakes his head while holding back from crying. "This can't be right. Rose is strong… SHE CAN'T DIE!"

He throws the newspaper to the other side of the room. ("Sorry doc, I can't help myself when I'm in a fight." "With you as my doctor I'm not worried. Thanks for the treatment doc.") "…WAAAH!" He couldn't hold back from crying anymore. (Why did you have to die Rose?! Why weren't you more careful?! I don't want you to leave!)

He silently weeps as he gets the newspaper and rereads the article to find the part about Luffy and Ace escaping. He wipes his tears and gets back to grabbing his medical supplies.

"Luffy must be feeling the worst of it right now...*Sniff* I can't just stay here and cry! As a doctor it's my duty to treat his injuries! I'm sure Rose wouldn't want me crying anymore either! I won't just sit by here, I'm a man! I need to be there for my friends!" He rushes out of the room to try to get out of the island as quickly as possible.

* * *

Sanji happily runs around Kamabakka Island in a dress and make up on his face.

"Sanji-chan! A letter has arrived for you!" One of the okamas say as he hands him the letter.

"Thank you very much!" He happily takes the letter, but when he opens it his smile is replaced with utter shock. (W-what is this?!) He reads the letter from Rose while the makeup on his face dripped until he was no longer wearing any. "Rose… Is this… A love letter?!" He dances with excitement until he looks at the bottom of the page that's says **THIS IS NOT A LOVE LETTER SANJI!**

He blinks at it in surprise before grinning. (She knows me so well. She really is one of a kind.) He chuckles as he runs back to the castle and got out of the dress and back in a suit. (So Rose is from another world that practically watched over our adventures and lives. She really is an angel from heaven! Shame on me for not seeing it sooner! Once I return I'll be sure to make her favorites as an apology!) He gets out of the castle to try to make a run for it.

The okamas look at him in shock and start chasing him again. "Hold on Sanji-chan!"

"Where's your beautiful dress?!"

"You were so lovely Sanji-chan!"

"SHUT UP! I'M A MAN!" Sanji yells as he makes a run for it from a group of chasing Okamas. (If Rose knew about this then it must be to challenge me in getting away from these guys! Don't worry Rose-chan! I'll take this challenge head on!)

He keeps running until he manages to lose them in a forest section of the island.

He sits down to catch his breath as he looks at the letter again. (I wish she would have told us in person though… She must've been terrified if she felt she had to pretend to be psychic… When the crew meets up I'll make sure she knows that she's welcome in this world!)

He starts to get up but looks up to see a news coo flying down to him. "Thanks." He takes the newspaper then freezes and glares at Rose's article in fury.

"What the hell is this?! They're calling her a demon?! And that bastard Aokiji had the nerve to kill her?!" He rips the newspaper in half but freezes as the newspaper's picture of Rose lands in front of him.

"Rose…" He gently picked it up while feeling his throat tighten as he stares at the picture. ("Don't worry; we'll give those marines hell for taking Robin!" "Please hurry! If you don't keep going Robin won't be saved by her prince!" "I'm ok Sanji, I just messed up…") He froze as he felt tears streaming down his face and his bottom lip starting to quiver. "ROSE-CHAAN!" The birds in the forest flew away from his shouting as he openly sobbed while gripping onto Rose's picture.

When he calmed himself down he got up and struggled with his lighter for a minute until he managed to light a cigarette. "That article mentioned her fighting in a war with Luffy to save Ace… Did he get away?! Why didn't he try to take her with him?! I have to hear his side of things and make sure he's alright!" He starts running again to try to find a boat to get off the island only to be chased by okamas again.

* * *

Usopp stares at his letter in utter shock in a safe part of the Boin Archipelago. "Just when you think you know a girl… I can't believe she knew about Kaya and the Usopp Pirates. She must've known about how important the Merry was to me too before we even got to Water Seven… Even while knowing that she can't be fixed, she was willing to help me fight the Franky Family…"

He lips curled into a smile before bursting out laughing. "Hahaha! For someone who knows so much about this world she can be as stupid as Luffy! After all the adventures we went through does she really think we can hate her for where she came from?! I'm impressed she managed to play the psychic act so well! I'm sure back in her world she wanted to meet Captain Usopp so badly that she jumped on the first opportunity to come here! Don't worry Rose; Captain Usopp is on his way!"

He grabs his slingshot and starts shooting through the island while avoiding giant animal attacks. Heracles follows him in confusion.

"Usopp-un, wait! It's dangerous to fight through the island! Why the sudden change in attitude?! You weren't this motivated before."

"My friend sent me this letter telling me why she actually knew about the crew's adventures. She allowed us to separate in order to get us stronger! She must know that conquering these beasts are a great warmup for the great Captain Usopp! When we meet again we'll be ready for sure!"

Usopp takes a shot at one of the animals but got knocked down by another animal. Heracles managed to rescue him and brought him to a safe part of the island to treat his injuries.

"I know you're excited Usopp-un, but you shouldn't strain yourself. This island is very dangerous. I'm willing to assist you if you wish."

Usopp nods. "I appreciate the help." He starts getting up when the news coo flies down to them. "Thanks for the newspaper." He takes the paper then looks in horror at Rose's article.

"This can't be right…" He clenches onto the newspaper as he keeps rereading the article in horror hoping that it's a mistake.

"Rose…" His tears start falling as he throws the newspaper into the air then starts running with his slingshot. ("Usopp, you're not useless! You're the greatest sniper I've ever seen!" "I wouldn't have been able to catch the fish without your lesson. Thanks Usopp, you're a great teacher.")

"Damnit!" He shoots past some of the carnivorous plants with Heracles following worriedly.

"What's the matter Usopp-un?! You were just happy a minute ago!"

(Why did you have to die and leave Luffy Rose?!) He keeps weeping as he tries to escape the island. "The friend I just talked about died in the recent war! She went there to get Luffy and Ace out of there! I can't rest anymore, Luffy needs me! She and Luffy were practically lovers! Even with his brother there he's going to be in pain! If I can't be there for him in a time like this then what kind of friend am I?!"

He charges through the island with Heracles following to save him from the giant beasts attacking him.

* * *

Brook starts writing some new songs in his room on Namakura Island with excitement after reading Rose's letter. "YOHOHOHO! Rose-san truly is something! I think my heart stopped from the shock of that letter! But wait, I don't have a heart. Yohoho! So she's from another world huh? How amazing! A wonderful inspiration for a new song!"

He keeps writing then drops the pen and sighs. "I only wish she didn't pretend to be psychic… I understand though, it's pretty scary when you're different from everyone else... As soon as we meet again I'll be sure to return the kindness that she's shown me when we first met."

He nods as he gets back to writing his music then freezes. "I lost my focus… NO!" He raises his arms and accidentally scatters the papers everywhere.

"*Sigh* I'm in a slump again… Maybe reading Rose's letter again can help me provide new inspiration." He searches through the papers on the floor to find her letter when he freezes to find a newspaper article.

"What's this?" He reads it then freezes when he sees Roses picture. "No…" He slowly reads the article while clenching onto the newspaper. ("It's a pleasure to meet you Brook. My name's Rose." "I'd love to learn some of your songs sometime Brook." "He's not scary.")

"ROSE-SAN!" He sobs as he held onto the article. (Why did you have to die Rose-san?! I'm supposed to be the dead one! Wait, this article mentioned a war involving Luffy-san and his brother. Did they get away?) He keeps weeping as he reads the article again then gets up.

"I must go to my crewmates so we can mourn together." (Rose-san… I'm sorry I wasn't there for you…) He leaves the room to get ready to depart from Namakura island.

* * *

Law's submarine surfaced on the coast of Amazon Lily after Hancock led the way.

Ace, Jimbei, Law, and some of his crew walk onto the island while Luffy was resting in the infirmary of the submarine.

"I'm only allowing you to stay here due to Luffy, so you'd better be grateful." Hancock says as they slowly nod.

(Please wake up soon Luffy…)She heads back to the village to get food ready for Luffy while the guys rest on the island.

Ace sits down and keeps his focus on the ocean.

"You're awfully quiet Portgas-ya." Law says.

"Wouldn't you be if your brother's girlfriend died in a war to save you?"

He nods in understanding. "Fair enough. This has been a crazy experience. What really fascinated me though was that Straw Hat-ya didn't even know the truth about her."

Jimbei and Ace look at him in confusion.

"What truth are you talking about?" Jimbei asks.

"The truth of her origins and knowledge." He takes out Luffy's envelope from his pocket and hands it to Ace. "I don't know when, but during the war she planted this letter on him. I guess as a precaution in case something like this happened. I have to say it's rather clever."

Ace looks at the opened envelope in shock. "You read it?!"

He shrugs his shoulders. "I was curious. Don't worry, I didn't tamper with it. All the words on that letter are from her. Feel free to look."

Curiosity got the better of Ace as he took out the letter and he and Jimbei read it.

Both of their eyes widened in shock at what they read.

"What the hell?!" Ace says.

"Luffy didn't know?!" Jimbei says.

Law shakes his head. "Apparently nobody in her crew knew. Sengoku announced her origins to the world while she was trying to pick your cuffs. It gave everyone a real shock."

Ace looks at the letter softly. ("Don't worry Ace, your secret's safe. I can tell it's my secret he told…") "Rose…" He bit his lower lip as he stuffs the letter in his pocket then starts walking back to the sub. "I'm gonna check on Lu."

* * *

Luffy lays down on the infirmary bed sleeping then starts to stir as memories of Rose start popping up in his head. ("Luffy, the ride's over now! You gotta let go!" "I can make you my first human flyer if you want." "I'm sorry for not telling you about the war. I'll tell you everything when we get out of here." "I love you too.") The last memory to appear was the scene of him watching helplessly as Rose was attacked by Aokiji and was stabbed.

Luffy jolts awake from the memory. "AAAAH!" He gets up and runs out of the infirmary to be blocked by Shachi, Penguin and Bepo.

"Hold on Luffy! You're still too exhausted to move!" Shachi says.

He lightly pants as he glares at them. "I can't rest anymore! I have to find Rose!"

Bepo looks at him sadly while Penguin and Shachi hold back from crying.

(Rose…) Penguin wipes his threatening tears while slowly walking up to Luffy. "Luffy, we're sorry but Rose died in the war…"

"QUIT LYING!" He goes to punch him in rage but he dodges and keeps trying to punch them to make an opening then jumps out of the sub and lands on the island in front of a shocked Ace, Jimbei and Law before running into the jungle.

"LUFFY! GET BACK HERE! YOU'RE STILL HURT!" Ace yells as he and Jimbei run after him.

Law huffs as he watches them run. "Good luck Straw Hat-ya."

* * *

Luffy runs around the island in frustration as he searches for Rose.

"ROSE! WHERE ARE YOU?! QUIT HIDING ALREADY!" He looks up at the clouds and reaches up to them but Rose wasn't in there then pictures of Rose getting attacked by Aokiji appear in his head.

He clenches his head in pain. "It's not true! Rose isn't dead! She's too stubborn to die!" They keep popping up until he remembers seeing Rose get stabbed in the stomach.

"GET OUT OF MY HEAD!" He slams his head to a boulder then pants from exhaustion while looking at the sky. "Rose, you can't be dead… You promised you were going to tell me something right? THEN WHERE ARE YOU?!"

He keeps running around the jungle until Ace and Jimbei catch up to him and tackle him to the ground.

"You gotta stop Luffy!" Ace says as he and Jimbei get off of him.

Luffy looks at Ace and grabs his shoulders. "Ace, you really are ok! What happened to Rose?! Please, tell me her dying was a dream!"

Jimbei and Ace look at him softly.

"I'm sorry Luffy…" Jimbei says causing tears to appear in Luffy's eyes before punching Jimbei.

"WHY DID YOU HOLD ME BACK?! IF YOU HAD LET ME GET TO HER SHE WOULDN'T HAVE DIED!"

"Luffy…" Ace clenched his fists as Jimbei got up.

He dusts himself off then glares at Luffy. "I did what I had to in order to make sure you and Ace live. You couldn't save her if you couldn't have even escaped my grip."

"SHUT UP!" Luffy goes to punch him but Jimbei grabs his arm and flips him over his shoulder.

"In your condition you cannot defeat me, but if you need to let out your frustration I'll be your opponent."

Luffy gets up while glaring at Jimbei and charges at him.

While Jimbei and Luffy are having their fight Ace watches them in frustration. (Damnit, this is all my fault! She should have just let me die! "You're supposed to make sure you live! Your death would have broken not only Whitebeard's heart, but Luffy's and so many other peoples that it's not even funny!"… Didn't you know how important your life was for Luffy too Rose?!) Ace goes into his pocket to get the letter while Jimbei pins Luffy to the ground.

Luffy couldn't hold back anymore as he starts crying. "Damnit… How could I be Pirate King if I couldn't even save someone close to me?!"

Jimbei grits his teeth as he lets go of him. "You can't be worrying about those things! Have you gone blind to those that you have?! You have indeed lost a lot, but you're not alone! You have both your brother and the rest of your nakama!"

Luffy freezes in shock as he keeps tearing up. "I still have them… Ace and the rest of my crew… I want to see the others again…"

Ace walks up to Luffy and hands him the letter. "Rose planted this on you during the war. It's up to you if you want to read it or not…"

Luffy looks at the letter in shock. (Rose…) He slowly nods as he starts reading the letter.

 **Hi Luffy,**

 **If you're reading this then we got separated during the war so I couldn't tell you the truth in person. Don't worry though, with my luck I'm probably safe on Whitebeard or Shanks' ship right now.**

 **I'm sorry… I knew that we were going to separate in Sabaody Archipelago… I didn't prevent it from happening for a reason. We're not ready for the New World yet. The crew getting separated because of Kuma's attack was proof… Everyone else is safe though I guarantee. Where Kuma sent each of us were places where we could get strong enough for the future. Rayleigh will be coming on your island soon to offer to teach you some techniques that will make you strong enough to protect everyone. I know it's selfish of me to ask but please listen to him. I promise that these techniques will get you strong enough for the challenges ahead.**

 **There's another thing you deserve to know… I'm not a psychic like Robin said. I played along because I was scared of how everyone was going to react… I'm going to tell you the truth as to why I know so much, but it binds with how I got on your ship so I'm gonna start with that. Do you remember the comet that I'm studying that travels to other worlds? One night I saw that comet flying across the sky and I made a wish on it to leave my world to go to one of the worlds I read about. I accidentally used my crystal to make it happen for the next morning I woke up on the deck of your ship. The reason that I know so much about this world is that in my world this world is a story involving the crews adventures, and I read a lot about them before I came here. If you don't believe me I have some information as proof. When you were 7 you got that scar under your eye by stabbing yourself in the face to prove that you were a man to Shanks. If that's not enough you and Ace were raised by Dadan the mountain bandit on Mt. Corvo. I won't go any further.**

 **I'm sorry for deceiving you… I promise that I didn't cause any major changes in your adventures unless if I succeeded in preventing Ace from dying in the war. If I failed then I'm sorry… I know how important Ace was to you. Please know that you're not alone Luffy! You have everyone in the crew, Shanks, Dadan, Makino, and I'm here to support you too! The last thing you are Luffy is alone so please don't give up on your dream!**

 **I love you and I promise to be there when we all meet.**

 **Rose**

Luffy couldn't take his eyes off the letter until he saw his tears hitting the paper. "Rose…"

He clenches the letter tightly while sobbing as Ace pulls him into a hug. (Damnit Rose! Why didn't you tell me about where you came from sooner?! You shouldn't have been scared! I don't care about what you know about us or what world you're from! I just wanted you to stay!)

Ace grips onto his brother tighter while holding back his own tears. "Luffy… I'm sorry… Rose is right though you're not alone. Don't give up on your dream because of this. I promise I'll help you get stronger."

Luffy slowly nods as he wipes his tears then hugs him back. "Thanks Ace…"

Jimbei watches the two brothers softly. "We should get back."

Both guys nod as they start heading back to the cove. When they make it back they find Law's submarine gone and Rayleigh drying himself off after swimming to the island.

"Rayleigh! You really did come here!" Luffy says.

"So this is the Dark King Rayleigh?! I'm astonished!" Jimbei says as he and Luffy approach him.

Ace remains frozen while staring at Rayleigh. (So this guy was Roger's first mate… If he can really help Luffy get stronger then I won't complain.) He clenches his fists as he joins the group.

"Good to see you Luffy. I'm sorry for your loss…" Rayleigh says as he looks at him softly.

He nods with a soft grin. "Thanks… What happened to the crew that was here?"

"If you mean Trafalgar Law, he and his crew sailed away a little while ago. He wanted me to tell you that you need to rest up for at least a week."

"Rayleigh, Luffy!" Marigold calls out as she, Sardesonia, and Hancock walk over to them with a cart full of food.

"Here you go Luffy! Eat all that you want! I'm so glad you're ok!" Hancock says as she blushes and looks away from him then glares at the other guys. "You guys can only have a mouthful unless it's ok with Luffy."

Ace and Jimbei sweat drop at her attitude then look at Luffy in confusion as he's eating. (What the hell is with Luffy and the girls?) They shake their heads from the thought then grabbed some food.

After they finished eating Rayleigh walks over to Luffy. "Luffy, I have a proposal for you. It will help you get stronger, but it's up to you to decide."

Luffy widens his eyes as he remembers Roses letter. ("Rayleigh will offer to teach you some techniques that will make you strong enough to protect everyone. I know it's selfish to ask but please listen to him.") He slowly nods "What's the proposal exactly?"

* * *

On an unknown island in the New World the Whitebeard Pirates and Red Hair Pirates have finished Whitebeard and Roses funeral with only Marco and Shanks left staring at the gravestones.

"I can't thank you enough for this Red Hair. Not only for allowing us to bury Whitebeard but for also helping me fake Roses death by keeping her on your ship while we worked on this yoi." Marco stares at Roses fake tombstone that has her name carved in the stone. The grave is surrounded by flowers with a staff that looks similar to Roses standing upright behind it and her jacket hanging from it.

Shanks nods. "Think nothing of it. To be honest, I'm amazed by her. It's a miracle that she managed to survive. If you didn't bring her in when you did she would have died of blood loss."

Marco slowly nods. "So what now? She hasn't woken up yet…"

Shanks stares at the grave in thought. "It would be too dangerous to have her stay with you guys since the marines will be observing your movements from now on. I'm willing to take her with me."

He looks at him in shock. "Are you sure about that yoi?!"

He nods with a grin. "I don't mind. Let's go check up on her."

The guys start making their way to the ship when Vista runs up to them with a newspaper in his hands. "Marco! Shanks! Ace and his brother did something crazy again!"

He shows them the newspaper article of Luffy ringing the Ox Bell and the picture of Luffy holding his hat over his chest in a moment of silence with his arm tattooed: 3D2Y. Ace stands beside him in the photo while bowing his head in silence.

Marco gapes at the article in shock. "What the hell are those two doing yoi?!"

Shanks laughs at the article. "You can never tell with those two. I'm sure Rose can tell us what they're trying to do."

Vista shakes his head. "That's not needed! Ace gave us a call on a den den mushi just now. He told us that he's staying with Luffy to train on haki with him under Rayleigh!"

"He's going to what?! Did you tell him about Rose?!" Marco asks.

"We tried to, but he sounded like he was being chased and yelled something like 'quit touching me you crazy Kuja girls!' then he hung up before we could say anything. When we tried to call him back we couldn't reach him."

Both of them stare at Vista in disbelief until Shanks starts laughing while Marco's still shocked.

"I don't want to know yoi..."

Shanks recovers while wiping his eyes. "Hahaha, don't worry about it. At least they're together. Did he say how long they'll train?"

Vista nods. "He said it will take two years… He also said that he's gonna stay with Luffy's crew when they meet and hitch a ride with them to the New World and meet us there."

Marco sighs. "I swear these D's are as selfish as ever yoi… At least we know they're ok. How's Roses condition?"

"She's still out cold but the other commanders and the bird are keeping her company. I can't believe that falcon Zira managed to follow us all the way from Marineford."

Shanks nods. "At least it explains how the fake order came in. We're about to go see her now. Come on."

The three guys head into Shanks' ships infirmary where the Division Commanders, Zira and Squardo are waiting around in the infirmary while filling the room with various kinds of flowers.

They look to see Rose sleeping soundly with bandages around her arms, neck and torso while wearing her v-neck and jeans as well as 2 IV bags filled with medical liquids connected to her left arm.

The crews doctor Angela: A woman with shoulder length brown hair, blue eyes, around her late 40's in a green shirt, black pants and white lab coat twitches an eyebrow in irritation after checking her IV tubes. "Enough with the flowers! This place is looking like a greenhouse! And will you quit crowding the room already?! I told you that when Rose wakes up I'd tell you!"

"No way! We have to be here to thank her!" Squardo says as he finishes placing his flowers in a corner of the room. (If it wasn't for her I would've stabbed Pops…)

"Rose needs a buddy with her, so I'm staying!" Zira says as she flies onto Roses bed and sits next to her.

"She stopped Ace from dying! We're not leaving! Besides this place is too dreary for an infirmary. It needs to be brightened up." Izo says.

Angela groans in frustration then sees Marco at the doorway. "Help me get these idiots out of the room!"

He softly chuckles as he turns to the guys. "She's right guys, we have to get going. Rose is going to stay with Red Hair yoi."

The guys start sulking.

"We couldn't even talk to her though…" Namur says.

"He's right though... If our crews stay together for too long it will get suspicious, and it's safer with Red Hair…" Haruta says as he looks at her in disappointment then turns to Shanks. "Can we at least exchange den den mushi numbers so that we can talk to her after she wakes up?"

Shanks nods as he gives him a slip of paper with the number. "Here you go. Don't worry guys, when things blow over we'll see each other."

Haruta nods with a grin as he takes the paper then gives him their number. "Thank you. Consider the flowers a thank you gift."

The guys leave with only Marco, Zira, Shanks and Angela in the room.

Shanks chuckles as he looks around the room to see the different colored flowers everywhere. "If I didn't know better I would think that she's a member of your crew by the way you guys are treating her."

Marco softly laughs. "Some of the others overheard Pops say that she's worthy of being his daughter, so they started considering her our new sister even though she's in another crew. For what she did, I'm with them on this. Promise me that you'll take care of her Shanks."

He nods. "Don't worry. We'll make sure she's safe while she's recovering and when she's up and running again she'll decide what to do."

He nods in approval before turning to Zira. "From one bird to another good luck Zira yoi."

"Back at you bird man!" She flies over to Marco and high fives him with her wing before returning to her place by Roses side.

"I'll see you later yoi." Marco returns to his ship and starts sailing off the island with Shanks' ship traveling in a different direction.

Angela sighs in relief while crossing her arms over her chest. "Glad they're finally gone. I gotta admit though, the place looks nice. Zira, as long as you don't make too much noise you can stay in the room with her. Understand?"

She nods as she starts yawning then dozes off next to Rose.

Shanks grins as he and Angela walk out of the room.

"She should be waking up any day now. Her injuries on her arm and neck are still pretty bad, so she shouldn't be going anywhere for a while." Angela says.

He nods in understanding. "Gotcha."

They make it out on the deck when Angela stops him from walking. "Any idea how to tell her that the world thinks she's dead?"

He freezes at the question then rakes his hand through his hair in a panic. "OH CRAP! I HAVE NO FREAKING IDEA!"

TO BE CONTINUED


	27. Chapter 27

_2 years have passed since the War of the Best. Ace and the Straw Hat Pirates except for Rose are preparing the Sunny to depart for the New World._

 _"You look so cool Franky!" Chopper says as he, Usopp and Luffy stare at Franky with stars in their eyes as he shows his new features to them._

 _"After 2 years of modifications I gotta say I'm more SUPER than ever!"_

 _Robin giggles at this then turns to Ace. "I don't believe we met. My name's Robin."_

 _He politely bows to her. "It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Portgas D. Ace. I hope you don't mind me travelling with everyone until I meet with the Whitebeards."_

 _"Not at all."_

 _"The more the merrier I say." Nami says as she checks her map._

 _Sanji love tornadoes around Nami and Robin happily. "It's always merrier with lovely ladies like you two around! I'm so happy to see you again!"_

 _Zoro huffs in exhaustion. "Still the same pervy cook." He and Sanji get into a leg and sword brawl while Brook laughs._

 _"Yohoho! This calls for a song! Seeing everyone again makes me smile from ear to ear or it would if I had ears. YOHOHO!"_

 _Rose watches the scene from a cloud right above them with a soft grin. (Looks like everyone's ok. So they all know the truth now…)_

 _Her smile starts to fade when she feels a hand grab her ankle and pull her down to Luffy's embrace while the others surround them._

 _She blushes in shock and tries to get out of the embrace but Luffy infused his arms in armament haki so she couldn't escape. "L-luffy, can you please let me out?"_

 _"No."_

 _"Why not?"_

 _"Don't wanna."_

 _She lightly groans in embarrassment then freezes when she sees the stares of Ace and the other crew members and softly sighs. "I know I have a lot of explaining to do… Before that I just want to apologize for-"_

 _Nami whacks her on the head. "Shut up! You really think that we'd hate you for where you came from?!"_

 _"You should've just told us!" Zoro gives her a whack to the head in irritation._

 _She looks at them in shock then looks at the ground. "Sorry…"_

 _"Quit apologizing! You're a part of the crew just like any of us are! You're allowed to make mistakes!" Zoro says with Nami nodding causing her to look at them in shock._

 _Usopp nods with a grin. "I agree with them Rose. You let that experience happen to get us stronger right?"_

 _She slowly nods while staring at the deck. "Yea, but I deceived you guys…"_

 _"It's ok." Chopper says as he walks up to her and joins in Luffy's hug. "I would've done the same if I was you. It's scary being different."_

 _Rose looks at him softly. "Doc…"_

 _Brook nods. "He's right Rose-san. None of that matters though we're your friends after all."_

 _Robin giggles at her shock. "I made that cover to allow you to open up when you were ready Rose. I don't regret doing it."_

 _Franky grins at her and gives her a thumbs up. "You should know that I can't hate my SUPER little sister Freckles! I'll admit this is crazy, but we're not the most normal crew out there. You fit in with us perfectly."_

 _Sanji starts having hearts in his eyes. "I should've known that you were an angel through your beauty. No matter how you came here I'll always stay by your side!" He goes to hug her but Ace grabs him by the back of his jacket._

 _"Take it easy lover boy. As for you Rose, we freckled logia users should stick together."_

 _"We flyers have to stick together too." Zira says as she flies onto the deck._

 _Roses eyes start to tear up when she felt herself being turned around to face Luffy after Chopper lets go._

 _Luffy gives her one of his toothy grins as he holds her close. "Shishishi. See? There wasn't any need to worry. You're part of the crew and I love you no matter what."_

 _Rose couldn't hold it in anymore as she wrapped her arms around him while crying tears of joy. "Thank you…"_

 _The group joined in the hug while some of them were shedding some tears of their own. Everyone lets go and starts splitting up to get the ship ready to leave with Rose following from behind._

 _"It looks like we won't have to worry about you being with them. You've really grown Rose." Rose freezes and turns in shock to see her mom Teresa: a woman in her low 40's with long black hair and purple eyes in a short sleeved white dress._ _Beside her is Roses dad, Joe: a man in his low 40's with scruffy brown hair, brown eyes hidden behind eyeglasses, and freckles spread across his cheeks while wearing all white._

 _Rose stares at them in shock before running to hug them._

 _Both of them held onto her tightly then let go of her before Teresa whacks her on the head. "That's for being so reckless!"_

 _Rose softly laughs while cradling her aching head. "Hehe, sorry mom. I'm getting a lot stronger though! In that last fight I managed to send an admiral flying! And I think I knocked out at least 100 marines!"_

 _Joe nods with a smirk. "Wouldn't expect anything less from my daughter! Are you still aiming for the nose?"_

 _Rose smirks while pumping her fists. "Gotta send those sharks running."_

 _"That's my girl!"_

 _Teresa sighs. "I swear you two… No wonder you chose this world."_

 _Rose looks at her in excitement. "So was all of this in your research?! Including the crystal?!"_

 _Joe nods. "Yup, we were going to explain how it works the next time the comet arrived but…" He looks at her sadly then hugs her again while holding back from crying. "Rose, we're so sorry for leaving you alone in that world…"_

 _She hugs him back with a soft grin. "It's ok dad. I've been able to get a lot of answers about the comet and crystal here. I can even tell when the crystal has enough energy or not now. I'm sure that there's more about the comet to discover! And as long as I have the crew with me I'm not alone, so you don't need to worry anymore."_

 _Teresa shakes her head. "We can't stop worrying about you. But, your friends are good people so that makes it easier on us. If anything I won't have to worry about your judgement in men anymore. Good choice in picking Luffy!"_

 _She gives Rose a thumbs up causing her to start blushing in embarrassment. "Mom!"_

 _Joe pulls back, grabs Roses shoulders, and faces her frantically. "If he tries anything funny hit him in the nose and the balls as hard as you can! I'll be sure to haunt him for the rest of his life if he breaks your heart!"_

 _Teresa whacks him on the head. "Knock it off Joe!"_

 _He slouches in defeat. "Yes dear…"_

 _Rose lightly giggles when her parents start to fade. "Wait, do you guys have to leave already?!"_

 _Teresa looks at her sadly as they keep fading. "Sorry Rose. We have to go back to the afterlife and you're going to be waking up soon. I know I can't ask you to not do anything dangerous, but at least try not to fight alone anymore. You have others on your side now."_

 _Rose holds back from crying while nodding with a smile. "I won't fight alone. Thank you guys for the necklace and for everything... I love you, and I'll see you later."_

 _"It had better not be until years from now!" Joe says while they both grin and disappear._

 _"It won't, bye guys." She walks inside with a grin to help the others get ready for the New World._

* * *

Zira is alone in the infirmary of the Red Force with Rose while watching her smile in her sleep. (I wonder what she's dreaming about? Looks like it's a nice dream.)

The door opens causing Zira to turn to see the crew's pet monkey Monstar walk into the room and start chattering to her.

Zira twitches an eyebrow in irritation. "No, I'm not going to play with you. I need to watch over Rose while your crew is having their meeting."

He chatters again causing her to get annoyed. "You're too noisy to play with in here. Why don't you go to that meeting while I stay here?"

He answers then offers a banana causing her to get mad. "I don't care if you think those humans meetings are boring or that you'll give me a banana if I play with you! I don't like bananas! If you're gonna keep bothering us then go away!" She flies over to him to try to shoo him out of the room, but he dodges her and tries to grab her in a game of tag then chases her around the room.

"Knock it off already you crazy monkey! Leave me alone!"

The chase ensues and caused some of the vases in the room to break and some of the flowers to fly everywhere.

Rose woke up to the sound of their bickering and slowly sat up to see Zira being chased by Monstar then looks around to see the room full of flowers.

(I wake up in a greenhouse to a monkey chasing a falcon… I don't know what's worse: that I was left alone to this or that I'm not surprised.) Her lips curl up to a smile before she starts giggling. "Hey Zira, got tired of ruffling up Emma's feathers so you're bothering monkeys now? Hahaha!"

Zira and Monstar freeze in shock and turn to see Rose laughing then pausing to clench her stomach while coughing. (Ouch that hurt! What the-? That's right; Aokiji kicked the crap out of- OOMPH!)

Zira tackles her in a hug while crying comical tears. "Don't ever scare me like that again you jerk! Everyone was so worried about you!"

Rose widened her eyes in shock then hugs her back. "Sorry about that. Thanks for following me. Where exactly are we anyway?"

Monstar starts chattering causing Zira to have to translate. "He says 'You're on Shanks' ship. You got hurt really bad during the war and he and the Whitebeards hid you so that the Marines wouldn't hunt you down. My name's Monstar by the way.'"

He extends a paw for her to shake which she takes with a grin. "Nice to meet you Monstar. You can translate animals Zira? That's great! Wait, what about Luffy and Ace?! Did they make it out of the war ok?!"

Zira nods. "Don't worry, they're both safe. I heard from Shanks that they're gonna be training in haki for 2 years. Was that supposed to happen?"

(I didn't mess that up! That's a relief.) She nods with a grin. "Yea, Luffy's supposed to train under Rayleigh. I didn't account for Ace staying though. I think it's a good thing. They can get stronger together. Where is Shanks anyway?"

Monstar points to the door while chattering.

Zira nods. "He says that 'Shanks and his crew are having a meeting to decide what to do. I'm more than happy to lead you to them if you can walk.'"

Rose takes the IV tubes out of her left arm then swings her legs off the bed and gently places her feet on the ground while avoiding some of the flowers then stands up. She tests her legs then nods in satisfaction. "Looks like I'm ok to walk. By the way, why did Shanks put me in a greenhouse? Did he think that since my name's Rose I should be with my own kind?"

Monstar and Zira laugh at that. "You're in an infirmary. This was the Whitebeards doing. They wanted to do something to repay you for your help and since the infirmary was so depressing they decided to brighten it up with flowers."

Rose giggles at that and takes a look around the room. "That was sweet of them. The room looks nice. You guys ready to go?"

They nod as Monstar walks ahead of them. Rose goes to follow them when she finds her necklace on the nightstand. She picks it up with a soft grin as she puts it on then follows Monstar and Zira through the ship to a slightly open door.

Rose places a finger over her mouth indicating them to stay silent causing them to nod as she leans near the door to look through the crack to see Shanks and his crew talking while going through Roses bag.

"WHOA! This girl is Luffy's lover?!" Shanks says in shock as he stares at the photo of Rose and Luffy sleeping together.

"WHAT?!" The others crowd Shanks and stare at the photo in shock.

"Aww, they look so cute!" Yasopp says.

"Time flies. I can't believe Luffy picked a girl already." Ben says.

"Luffy's a man now! Good for him!" Lucky Roo says.

Rose blushes in utter embarrassment while Zira turns to her in shock.

"You never told me this!"

"You never asked. Anyway, even though we're a couple nothing major happened except a few kisses so they shouldn't be so excited!"

Shanks keeps grinning as he grabs Roses age sake. "Now I'm really glad to have her with us! As soon as she wakes up we'll have some sweet sake to celebrate!"

Rose turns her body into wind then flew into the room right next to Shanks and takes the sake from him. "Unless you want to turn into a kid or an old guy I would stay away from this sake."

The crew jumps away from her in shock.

"Whoa! Where did you come from?!" Yasopp says.

She giggles as she points to the door. "From the door. Sorry for the scare. I ate a devil fruit that turned my body into wind."

"What the? Does your world have them too?! Also what do you mean 'unless you want to turn into a kid?!' Can you do that too?!" Luck Roo asks.

She shakes her head as she holds up the bottle. "No, but this age sake can do it. Also, my world doesn't have devil fruits. I ate one the first day I came here. Allow me to introduce myself. My name's Rose, thanks for hiding me from the Marines." She politely bows before placing her stuff back in the bag.

Shanks is the first to recover before grinning at her and helping her put everything back. "The pleasure's all mine kid! Thanks for the warning about the age sake and sorry for looking at your stuff. I'm Shanks and this is my crew! "

Before Rose can say anything Angela runs up to her. "Before we discuss anything I need to check your injuries!"

She takes Roses left arm and takes her to the infirmary with Shanks and the others following.

Rose sits on the bed while Angela sees the scattered flowers and broken vase on the floor and twitches an eyebrow in irritation. "What happened in here?"

Rose points to Zira and Monstar causing them to sweat drop in fear.

"Traitor!" Zira says when Angela walks up to them with a dark aura surrounding her.

"I take it you two woke her up then?"

Both animals gulp when Angela picks them up by the back of the neck and walks to the door while the others clear a path for her in fear as she throws them out of the room.

"Get out and stay out!" She slams the door shut then turns to Rose with a calm grin and walks up to her to checks her injuries. "Sorry that they woke you up. My name's Angela, I'm the crews doctor. How are you feeling? Where do you feel the most pain right now? Is your stab wound causing any discomfort?"

(Why does she remind me of Dr. Kureha?) Rose looks at her nervously before slowly nodding. "Nice to meet you. First, I feel sore but nothing I can't manage. The most pain, I guess is a tie between my neck and stomach with my right arm a close second. Finally, I was stabbed?!"

Angela widens her eyes in realization. "Right! You were knocked out. Aokiji stabbed you in the stomach after he knocked you out."

She widens her eyes in shock as she feels her stomach and finds the wound. "What?! Wait a minute! Do you know if Luffy saw this?! Does he know I'm ok?!"

Shanks and the guys look at her softly.

"… Promise you won't overreact to what I'm about to tell you." Shanks says.

Rose takes a deep breath then nods. "Ok."

"Not only did Luffy see this but the rest of the world. They believe that Aokiji killed you but he missed your vitals on purpose so that you wouldn't be hunted down after leaving Marineford…"

Rose froze in shock. "… So the world thinks I'm dead?"

They nod.

Rose looks down for a moment while gripping the sheets before getting off the bed and politely bowing to them. "Thank you for telling me and for your hospitality, but I have to get going."

She turns her body into wind to try to get out but Shanks manages to pick her up by the waist with his haki infused arm.

"Hold on, where are you going?!" Shanks asks as he keeps a hold of her while she struggles.

"I have to get to Amazon Lily and tell Luffy I'm ok." (Who knows how he must be feeling right now?! Damnit, I screwed up!)

The crew looks at her in shock. "WHAT?!"

Angela grabs her shoulder causing Shanks to put her down. "You can't leave with your body like this! In your state the marines can easily capture you and then everything would be ruined!"

She shakes her hand off. "I can't just let my friends think I'm dead though!" (What have I done?! Those letters I made and this news must've really hurt them- WHOA!)

Rose snaps out of her thoughts when Angela threw her onto the bed then locked her left wrist with a sea stone cuff and cuffed her to the bed post.

"What the hell?!" Rose stares at her in shock while the crew pales at Angela's dark aura.

She glares at Rose with her arms across her chest. "There are only 2 ways you are leaving my care. That's either dead or completely healed. Even though the world thinks you're dead I prefer going for the latter of the two."

Rose blinks in surprise then gulps. (Oh crap, don't tell me…) "You're not related to Dr. Kureha by any chance are you?"

Angela immediately calms down and looks at her with stars in her eyes. "I wish I was! That doctor is my role model!"

(Of course she is… Even if I pick the cuffs I don't want to fight these guys after what they did for me… I doubt I can take them with my body like this anyway…) She sighs. "Ok, I won't rush out, but when I'm completely healed I really do need to get going."

"What then?" Ben asks

She quirks an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"If you leave what then? Do you even know where Amazon Lily is?"

"It's at the Calm Belt near Sabaody."

He widens his eyes at the answer then crosses his arms over his chest. "Ok, then how do you plan on getting there?"

"Flying or a boat."

"Then what if you get captured while travelling? The marines could torture you for the whereabouts of the others or they could use you as bait to draw them out like how they used Ace to lure Whitebeard into a war."

Rose bites her lip in frustration. (Crap… He's right…) "Then what do you propose I do then?! I can't just let my crewmates think I'm dead forever!"

Shanks steps up to the bed with a serious expression on his face. "Did Zira fill you in about the two years?"

She nods. "That was supposed to happen. After the two years the crew is supposed to meet at Sabaody Archipelago in order to go to the New World."

He nods as he relaxes. "Then how about a proposal? You stay with us during the 2 years then not only will we bring you to Sabaody, but we'll train you on haki."

Rose widens her eyes at the proposal. (They're right about if I do get captured… If I train in haki then I can protect myself and keep up with the others… If I'm going to see if I actually can learn how to use it what better way than from a yonko? But…) "… Would it be possible to write to them at least?"

He shakes his head. "Sorry, but the Marines have started cracking down on everything including the mailing system after the war… You sent letters to them before the war right? They should still be safe because the war caused everything to be more relaxed before but now they're observing every letter in hopes of finding information about pirate locations…"

(*Sigh* I should've guessed… Looks like I have no choice…) "Do you promise to take me to Sabaody when the two years end?"

Shanks nods with a grin. "You have my word."

She grins as she extends her right hand for him to shake. "Get the cuffs off my other hand and you got a deal."

The crew laughs as Angela un-cuffs her with a grin while Shanks shakes her hand then yells. "ALRIGHT! TIME TO PARTY!" He turns to Angela with puppy dog eyes. "Can she leave the infirmary please?"

She sweat drops at the puppy dog eyes then sighs. "Fine…"

"WAHOO! COME ON KID!" He picks Rose up over his shoulder and runs out of the room with the others following. "So you're from a world that knows about the events in this world right? That's really cool! How much do you know about our crew?"

Rose looks at him in confusion as she tries to get down but it's no use. (Armament haki can be annoying… Shouldn't he be more shocked about the whole thing though? I know he can be as laid back as Yato from Noragami but there should be a limit.) "Yea it's true. Sorry to disappoint but I only know your crews past with Luffy, that you were Rogers cabin boy, that some of your crew members can use haki, and that Yasopp is Usopp's dad. Excuse me for asking but aren't you shocked about this other world deal?"

He shrugs the shoulder that she's not on and gives her an easygoing grin. "I've seen a lot of things in this world. To be honest it doesn't surprise me that there are other worlds out there. It's more shocking to me that Luffy's showed interest in a girl now."

She blushes in embarrassment and looks away from him. "Shut up… Anyway, I know you have armament haki, but is there anyone in your crew that can use observation haki?"

"Yasopp knows how to use it. Be careful though. Once he finds out that you know Usopp he won't shut up."

She starts laughing. "Bring it on! Hey, what happened to the Whitebeards? Are they ok?"

"They're fine, oh that's right! They want you to call them after you woke up!"

He sets her down in the dining hall where Zira and Monstar were hanging out when the crew started drinking and partying with them. He grabs a den den mushi and got the number set up.

The den den mushi starts ringing then it starts to look like Marco. "What's up Red Hair? Did Rose wake up yet yoi?"

Rose giggles at the voice then takes the den den mushi. "Hi Marco. How are you guys doing?"

The den den mushi brightens up at her voice. "Rose! Glad you're awake! The crew is managing yoi. They're right here!"

"Rose! How did you like the flowers?" Izo says.

"I loved them Izo. They were nice to wake up to. Thanks for placing them in the infirmary."

"Anytime!"

"Can I talk to her?" Squardo says as he takes over showing a face that's on the brink of tears. "Rose… Thank you for stopping me from stabbing pops! I feel bad enough for almost doing it!"

She softly smiles at the den den mushi. "No problem. Don't feel bad about what happened. If anyone is guilty it's Akainu for tricking you. By the way I'm sorry for your loss…"

The den den mushi nods. "Thank you…"

"May I?" Vista takes the den den mushi with a grin. "Hello Rose, I never formally introduced myself. My name is Vista. I would like to thank you for not only saving Ace, but also for saving me and Namur from getting frozen."

She nods with a grin. "Don't worry about it. I should be thanking you guys for breaking that barrier."

Vista nods then looks at her sadly. "Did Red Hair tell you what happened after you were knocked unconscious?"

"Yea, but don't worry I won't do anything rash. I'm gonna train with Shanks on how to use haki for the next two years until the crew meets."

"I'm glad for you. Here's Marco."

Marco takes the den den mushi back. "We're glad to hear that you're ok Rose. We're also sorry that this had to happen yoi…"

She shakes her head. "Don't worry about it. You guys helped get me out after I was stabbed right? Because of that I made it. Thank you."

The face on the den den mushi looks at her softly before grinning. "You're definitely one interesting kid. If you ever need anything from us just let us know. We'll be sure to check on you soon. Thanks again for helping us save Ace. Later yoi."

He hangs up causing her to hang up her end while sighing. "So it begins…"

Shanks puts a hand on her shoulder. "Sorry about this… We'll make sure these two years are worth it so don't worry. We'll start training when you're fully recovered. For now, let's celebrate your recovery!"

She nods with a grin as she joins the party with the rest of the crew. (Luffy, everyone… I'm sorry about this… When we meet in Sabaody I won't hide anymore, so wait for me!)

TO BE CONTINUED

* * *

 **A/N: Hi guys. So the two years begins. I know everyone wants her to reunite with the crew ASAP, but I need to get her to fix a timeline glitch before going back to them so she gets a time skip arc before reuniting with the crew. I promise to make it enjoyable. Also 1B2M happy birthday.**


	28. Chapter 28

A year has passed since the war. During that year Roses appearance has changed a little: she grew an inch making her 5 feet and 7 inches tall and she managed to cut her brown hair to make it a little shorter than shoulder length while keeping her bangs. Her clothes also changed to a dark blue long sleeve shirt, long dark purple jacket, black gloves, black pants, dark blue sneakers and her half black half red necklace in place.

Right now she's on the deck of the ship while getting ready to train in observation haki with Yasopp. In order to practice her observation haki she's wears a blue and black striped mask that covers her entire face including the eyes just in case any ships pass by.

"You ready for our next training Rose?" Yasopp says as he and the other crewmembers prepare their bazookas filled with paint balloons all around the deck. Zira and Monstar are on the crow's nest with a bazooka of their own ready to fire.

She nods as she makes sure the mask stays in place and that she can't see anything. "Ready!"

He nods as he aims his bazooka. "Remember, even though they won't hurt you need to still take this seriously. Unless you want to become a walking rainbow again."

(Hehe, this guy really is Usopp's dad. This sounds like something he would come up with.) She nods while grinning behind her mask. "Gotcha, fire at will guys!"

They nod before launching paint balloons at random directions. She manages to sense where they are and begins to dodge one at a time. She dodges to the left, right then ducks from one about to hit her behind her head. She rolls to the right to dodge one from above and when she sensed that two from different directions were coming at her at the same time she used her wind to lift herself up to dodge. She lands and jumps to dodge another but gets hit in the leg with blue paint then jumps to dodge the next one and uses her wind to push the last one back and hit Yasopp in the face with it making his face blue.

The others couldn't hold back from laughing after they ran out of their own paint.

Lucky Roo falls on his knees from laughing "BWAHAHA! Looks like you should be careful in your training Yasopp!"

Yasopp twitches an eyebrow in irritation as he scoops up some orange paint from the deck and throws it at him. "How do you like that, you big orange?!"

Lucky Roo twitches an eyebrow in irritation as he scoops up some paint and starts a paint war with Yasopp.

Ben walks up to Rose while watching the fight blankly. "Wasn't this supposed to be for training?"

Rose shrugs her shoulders. "It still worked. I only got hit once today."

He nods with a grin. "As long as it's working it's fine. Go get yourself cleaned up."

She nods as she starts heading inside but freezes. "By the way, where exactly are we going? We're not on the Grand Line anymore right?"

"That's right. Shanks told us not to tell you where we're heading though, so sorry to disappoint."

She sighs. "Seriously? Oh well, as long as I keep the mask on it should be fine like with the other islands right?"

"Yup, so just be patient."

"Ok." She heads inside while Ben turns to Yasopp and Lucky Roo who just finished painting each other while the others are cleaning up.

"Remember what Shanks said. Not a word to Rose about where we're heading got it?"

Both guys nod.

"Of course, I'm sure she'll be happy with where we're going." Yasopp says.

"I just can't wait to get there!" Lucky Roo says with them nodding in agreement.

* * *

Rose finishes changing and placed on her plain black mask that also covers her face except for her eyes. (Where exactly are we going? I'm kinda curious now.) Rose walks out of the room with Zira flying up to her.

"The paint war was pretty fun."

"Yup, you and Monstar make a pretty good team with that bazooka. You two were the ones that hit me right?"

"Yup! The monkey's not so bad to work with. Do you feel that this stuff is actually working?"

"I definitely feel like I'm getting the hang of observation haki now. I'm having a harder time getting the hang of armament haki though…"

"Yea, Shanks can be a pain as a sparring partner."

"At least it's starting to work now. I'm starting to be able to infuse it in my limbs but I still have ways to go."

Zira nods in understanding as they make it onto the deck where Shanks is waiting for her.

"Ready to practice Rose? This time we're gonna try infusing haki with weapons."

Zira goes to hang out with Monstar while Rose grabs her staff and unsheathes the blades. (I'm grateful they left a fake staff at the grave. This weapon is too cool to get rid of.)

"Now remember, consider your weapon as a part of you so when you try to use armament haki remember that the blades are an extension of your arms."

She nods as she tries to infuse into her blades while Shanks unsheathes his sword and charges at her.

She forces herself to stay in place as she blocks the sword but feels that she's losing so she pushes him off and infuses her sword with haki but he blocks with ease.

"So where exactly are we going Shanks?" Rose asks as she keeps trying to hit him with the back of her blades but he blocks every strike.

"If you can knock me down without your devil fruit powers I'll tell you."

She smirks at the challenge as she infuses her leg with haki and tries to kick him but he blocks.

"You gotta do better than that!"

Rose twitches an eyebrow in irritation as they keep sparring. Shanks manages to knock one of her blades out of her hands then takes a swipe at her but she fuses her other blade with haki and blocks with full force then low sweeps Shanks to knock him on the ground.

Shanks looks at her in shock as she looks at her blade in shock before grinning behind her mask. (FINALLY! After a year of getting my ass kicked by this guy I finally got one on him!) She happily walks over to Shanks and offers a hand for him.

"Good match."

He recovers from the shock and takes the hand with a grin. "I'm impressed. You're finally getting better."

(Did he have to put the finally part?) She uses her wind to pick up the other blade then sheathes the swords. "Thanks. Now then, where exactly are we going?"

"We're-"

"CAPTAIN! WE'RE REACHING THE ISLAND NOW!" Yasopp yells causing him to grin in excitement.

"Looks like you'll find out now. Come on!" He leads her to the front of the boat for her to look in shock to see Dawn Island in their sights.

"No way! This is Luffy's home island?!"

"Yup, I thought it would be fun to show you where Luffy grew up before you went back to the crew."

She smirks while nudging him with her elbow. "I take it you can't wait to see Makino too?"

He jolts in shock before looking away. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Hehe, sure you don't. In any case this is awesome! Thank you so much! Would it be ok if I head to Mt. Corvo while everyone settles in?"

He quirks an eyebrow at the request but nods. "I don't see why not. Just remember to keep your face covered so that no one recognizes you."

"Will do. Zira, you wanna come with me?"

Zira nods. "Sure."

As soon as the boat docks Rose and Zira jumped off and headed for the jungle.

"Where are they going?" Ben asks.

"She wanted to head to Mt. Corvo for some reason. She must've known something to want to go there."

"Will it be alright letting them go off?"

"She's strong enough to protect herself."

"It's not protecting herself I'm worried about. It's her recklessness."

Shanks sweat drops before turning to the direction they went to. "What have I done?"

* * *

Rose walks up the mountain with Zira following.

Zira flies around curiously. "So this is where Luffy came from. No wonder he's strong. So why did you want to come up here so badly?"

"I wanted to go pay my respects to Sabo by the cliff." She picks some wild flowers while making the trek.

She tilts her head in confusion. "Who's Sabo?"

"Luffy's second brother."

"He has two of them? Where was this one during the war?"

"He died from an explosion 11 years ago… He was trying to escape his noble parents by going out to sea but a Celestial Dragon attacked his ship…"

"Wow… You know, I've been curious about something for a while. How much of this world's future do you know?"

"I know up to the crews adventures in Punk Hazard which I guess is about a month or so after the crew reunites. Some of their adventures after Punk Hazard were shown back home but I wasn't able to look into them before I came here. I never liked having things spoiled for me, so I avoided any hints of what happened in those events…" (Kinda wish I looked into the spoilers now. That information would've been useful… Oh well.)

"Wow, does your head hurt from knowing all this?"

She softly laughs as they reach the cliff. "If anyone's head should be hurting from knowing so much it should be Robins."

She walks near the edge then uses her observation haki to see if anyone was close by but didn't sense anyone so she took the mask off. She placed the flowers on the ground then sat down while facing the ocean.

"… Hi Sabo. We never met before. My name's Rose, I'm a member of Luffy's crew and I'm his girlfriend. I know it's weird that I came without him, but don't worry he's safe. He's gotten a lot stronger and so has Ace… I want to apologize to you. During the war Ace was supposed to die but I stopped it from happening, so you'll have to wait a while to meet him again… I promise to make sure that they won't have to pay for what I did."

"Will you now?"

Rose immediately puts her mask on then turns in shock to see an old tan woman with shoulder length white hair, 5 foot 8, slightly muscular and wearing a black cloak.

The old lady chuckles at Roses shock. "So you're the infamous outsider Catone Rose. You don't look much like a demon to me."

(Oh crap!) Rose shifts her eyes everywhere while waving her hand dismissively. "C-catone Rose? I'm not her; she died in that crazy war last year. I-I'm Lily!"

Zira looks at her in disbelief of the terrible lie. "Seriously? That's the best you could come up with?"

The old woman starts rolling over from laughing. "Hahaha! You're as bad of a liar as Luffy! Oh man, my grandson definitely has a weird taste in crew members and girls."

Both of them turn to her in shock. "GRANDSON?!"

She nods as she recovers from laughing. "Yup, I'm Luffy's grandma. No need to hide behind the mask. Even if I did believe that terrible lie your red aura gives you away."

Rose sighs as she takes off the mask. "So you're really Garp's wife?!"

She whacks her on the head in rage. "Don't you dare relate me to that jackass! My name is Quinn D. Cora! I'd never marry a crazy marine like him! That rotten son of his stole my daughter!"

Rose blinks in surprise. "So you're from Luffy's mother's side then? What exactly happened to her?"

"Not telling."

Zira sweat drops then whispers to Rose. "We should get out while we can. This woman is nuts."

Cora goes to hit her but she dodges. "I heard that you crazy pigeon!"

"Who're you calling a pigeon?!"

"Ok, break it up." Rose sighs then politely bows to Cora. "In any case, it's a pleasure to meet you Cora."

She scoffs as she crosses her arms over her chest. "I can't say the same."

Rose twitches an eyebrow in irritation as she straightens up. "Excuse me?"

"I don't know much about this other world thing and frankly I don't care. However, you messed with the time stream because of that stunt you pulled at the war. Do you honestly think I'd accept someone like that into my family? Stay away from my grandson!"

(What was that?! First I had to deal with the snake princess now someone in Luffy's family?!) Rose grits her teeth in frustration. "With all due respect, it's Luffy's choice for who he wants by his side and in his crew. Also, that stunt saved your other grandson's life! Where exactly have you been this whole time?! I've never heard of you even once!"

"That's because I've been busy making sure the timelines stay in tact!"

She looks at her in shock. "Keeping them in tact? Are you a devil fruit user?!"

"That's right! I ate the time time fruit!"

Zira looks at her in shock. "TIME-TIME FRUIT?!

"Yes, I've learned from experience that every time you try to prevent a major event it just causes the event to happen to you or someone else!"

(What?! Now that she mentions it…) Rose softly sighs. "In that case, shouldn't the time line be ok since the world thinks I'm dead?"

"Yes that part is fine, but because Ace didn't die there is a glitch in the timeline that I can't fix even if I go to that time period."

"Really?! What is it?!"

"Not telling."

Zira turns to Rose. "I think this woman is pulling our legs. We should get back to the others. She won't tell anyone that you're alive if that whole timeline thing is true."

Rose shakes her head. "If there's actually a glitch then I can't leave it alone. Listen Cora, I already made up my mind to take responsibility for any repercussions caused by saving Ace. Is there any way I can fix the problem?"

Cora tilts her head in thought then freezes and starts smirking. "Actually, there is something you can do. Time freeze."

Before Rose and Zira can react they both froze in place and couldn't move. (What the hell?)

She chuckles as she walks up to them. "I used my ability so that you're stuck in the last second. I'm gonna need you two completely still or I might send you to the wrong time period."

(Send us to the wrong what?!) Rose tries to get out along with Zira but they're both stuck.

Cora places a hand on Rose and Zira's heads. (Time Reversal!)

The forest and cliff disappear around them as a black vortex surrounds the three of them while Rose and Zira pass out.

* * *

Rose and Zira wake up on the cliff with Cora gone and a note in Roses hand.

"What the hell just happened?" Zira asks as Rose gets up and reads the note.

 **To Rose,**

 **You might feel a little exhausted. The first time trip takes a lot out of people.** **I sent you two to a different time where you can fix the glitch. If you know so much about this world and the events I don't need to tell you and if you don't know then this'll be fun to watch. Consider this a test to see if you're worthy of being Luffy's pirate queen. If you pass then I'll approve of you and send you and the bird back to your time. If you fail then consider yourselves new residents of this time. I'll find you when I've reached the verdict.**

 **Have fun Wind Rider,**

 **Cora**

Rose looks at the letter in shock. (That old hag is as crazy as Garp if not more!) She stuffs the note in her bag in irritation and puts her mask on. "That crazy old lady sent us to a different time period."

"She did what?! *Sigh* The crazy old lady just had to be Luffy's grandma! What's with him and crazy grandparents?!"

"I have no idea. I'm just glad he had to only deal with Garp growing up. Anyway, come on. We should get to a town to find out what time period we're at and if I should still be in hiding." (High Town's a safe bet because I won't have to worry about seeing Ace or Luffy. We should go there.)

Zira nods as she follows Rose to High Town. Once they reach the wall Rose used her wind to jump over it and land in an isolated area with Zira following.

"So how are we going to do this?" Zira asks.

"First, we shouldn't have you talking. If they see a talking bird these guys might get scared or try to buy you."

She slowly nods as she flies next to Rose while she walks up to the first gentleman that they see. "Excuse me sir, do you know of any recent news on the Straw Hat Pirates?"

He tilts his head in confusion. "Who are those guys? I've never heard of them."

"Then please answer this. When did Gold Roger die?"

He quirks an eyebrow at her. "Have you been living under a rock? Everyone should know that Gold Roger died more 10 years ago."

Rose widens her eyes at this then politely bows to him. "Thank you very much for this information."

He looks at her in confusion then walks away from her while she happily takes the mask off. "That's a relief. It looks like we're in the past so no one has heard of me."

Zira looks at her in confusion. "Why would she send us to the past?"

"I don't know, but in this case we should avoid Ace and Luffy. I'd rather not explain to either of them how we met in the past. It's starting to get late, so we should go find a place to stay at. This place is too expensive so let's get out of here."

Zira nods in agreement as they start leaving.

"AAAH!" They freeze when they hear a boy screaming then rush over to find 5 adult noblemen beating up a child with sticks and slamming him in into a pile of trash.

"You think you can steal from us and get away with it?! This'll teach you!" One of the adults raises a stick to hit him but Rose runs into the scene and blocks him with her staff.

She glares at him as she kicks him in the nose causing him to fall to the ground while the others pick him up. "Man, how pathetic. 5 men trying to feel strong by beating up a child. Are you alright?"

The kid stays hidden in the shadows but gives a thumbs up. "I shoult be oka buscht they knoshed out my toosh" (I should be ok but they knocked out my tooth.)

Rose nods in understanding then glares at the guys. (They hit him so hard that they knocked a tooth out?!) "Aright, who wants to get beaten up first?"

The guys jolt but then the guy Rose kicked points to the kid. "If anyone should be beaten it's this whelp! He tried to steal from us! Don't you know who we are?! We're members of the royal family!"

She scoffs as she gets in a stance. "Like I care!"

"WHAT?!"

"I don't care if you guys are from the royal family or celestial dragons. I'm still gonna kick your asses for beating up the kid!"

The kid watches her in awe as she runs in and beats up the guys with her staff until they make a run for it.

Once they left Rose nods in satisfaction then walks over to the kid with a soft smile. "You ok kid?"

He jolts in the shadows but nods while holding his mouth with one hand and a weapon in the other. "I should be fine now. The bleeding in my mouth stopped. Thank you."

"No problem. You wanna come out? I can take you home." He quickly shakes his head.

Zira flies up onto Roses shoulder. "We should just leave him alone Rose."

"A TALKING BIRD?!" The kid yells in shock.

"Way to go Zira…" Rose sighs then turns to him. "Please don't be-"

"AWESOME! What kind of bird are you?! Where are you two from?! Who are you guys?!"

Rose blinks in shock. (That's some change in attitude...) She grins and extends a hand out for him to shake. "Come out of hiding and I'll tell you about Zira. My name's Catone Rose. What's your name?"

The child shakes her hand and comes out of hiding to reveal his blond hair under a black top hat with goggles, slightly tattered noble clothes, and a pipe in his hand while showing off his grin with a missing tooth. "I'm Sabo."

Her eyes widen in shock. (HOLY CRAP!) She jumps back in shock causing him to look at her in confusion.

"Are you ok? What's wrong?"

(It can't be Sabo can he? I'd better test it…) "U-um… Nothing, it's just… Aren't you Outlook's son?"

He widens his eyes in shock before going to run but Rose blocks him. "Hold on. I'm not gonna turn you in! Sorry, I was just surprised!"

He gets in a stance while gripping his pipe before glaring at her. "Why should I believe you?"

"Why would a pirate turn in a runaway?"

"You're a pirate?!"

"Yup, I snuck in here for some answers. As I said before I'm Rose and this is my friend Zira. She ate a devil fruit that allows her to copy voices."

Zira shifts her voice to sound like Sabo's. "Hi, I'm Sabo."

"WHOA!"

Rose kneels down to his eye level. "You don't need to worry about me revealing your secret, but in return can I ask you to keep quiet about who I am and what I look like? I'm not supposed to be here."

He nods in understanding. "Ok."

"THERE THEY ARE! THE PICKPOCKET AND HIS BOSS ARE OVER THERE!" The nobles yell with a group of 20 guards running to them.

"Oh crap! We'd better go!" Rose gets up with Zira and starts running with Sabo following. "Why are you following me?!"

"I'm just running in your direction!" They look to see the guards gaining in on them.

Rose bites her lip in frustration. (Looks like I have no choice!) "Sabo, I need you to keep quiet about my devil fruit too got it?!"

"You have one?! Show me!"

"Alright, then hang on!" Rose uses her wind to pick Sabo up to get him on her back then uses her wind to jump onto the roofs and started roof jumping to lose the guards.

"AFTER THEM!" The guards chase them from the ground while Rose keeps using her wind to roof jump then flies over the wall.

"Whoa! This is amazing!" Sabo looks at the island in excitement while they fly in the air.

"Right?! Nothing beats flying!" Rose looks at the landscape with a soft grin. (I haven't been able to fly much during the past year… I miss it.) After a few more minutes of flying she lands in the forest. "Phew, that was fun. You ok Sabo?"

Sabo nods with excitement as he jumps off of her. "That was awesome! What kind of devil fruit was that?! Was it wind?!"

She lightly giggles while nodding. "Correct! Now, I need you to please keep quiet about this as well. Even with the people close to you ok?"

He nods. "Ok, but can you tell me some of your adventures?"

"Sure, but not now. Zira and I have to take care of some things. I'm going to have to wear a mask from now on to make sure no one I know recognizes me, so if you see someone in either of these two masks." She takes out the masks to show him. "Then you'll know it's me. Just don't say my name or tell anyone about me ok?"

"Ok, come meet me in Gray Terminal tomorrow. I'll see you later!" He runs off while waving them off.

Zira looks at him in wonder. "So that guy was Sabo? He looks nothing like Luffy."

"That's because they're not related by blood, they exchanged sake cups to become brothers and so did Ace. We'd better get going."

Zira nods as Rose puts on the mask that allows her to see. "Looks like I don't get a break from the mask after all… Oh well, this experience can be pretty fun."

Zira flies up to her face. "How can you be so calm about this?! We might be stuck here forever!"

Rose shrugs her shoulders. "I'm from a different universe remember? Compared to that time travel doesn't seem all that impossible. Hehe, if anything I can cross this off my bucket list now. Relax, as long as we fix the glitch then we'll get back. Come on, let's go see if we can find a place to stay for the night while we figure things out. It looks like we're gonna stay here for a while."

They head to the next town to find an inn while quietly wondering what's in store for them.

TO BE CONTINUED


	29. Chapter 29

Rose and Zira walk into the nearest inn/bar close to sunset then walk up to the innkeeper.

(*Sigh* this is the 5th place we've checked…) "Hi, I'm looking a room for me and my friend to stay in."

The innkeeper nods. "You're in luck. We have one room left. It will cost about 30,000 beli a night."

Rose sweat drops at the offer. (Hmm, it would be tough to stay here for long… It should be fine for at least the night…) She nods. "That will be-"

*SLAM* Everyone turns in shock to see a 10 year old boy with messy black hair, brown eyes, freckles, a pipe in his hand and a scowl on his face walking inside.

(OH CRAP IT'S ACE!) Rose and Zira stare at him in shock as he walks over to the bar while mumbling profanities.

"Damnit, that rubber brat never leaves me alone. He's giving me a headache! I need a break!" He keeps grumbling when a barkeep walks up to him.

"This isn't a playground kid. Go home. I'm not giving you any drinks."

"I just want some food." He slams some money on the counter causing him to nod.

"Fine then."

Zira whispers to Rose in shock. "Did he just say 'rubber brat'?! Does he mean Luffy?"

She nods. (So we're past Luffy getting his devil fruit and moving in with Dadan. By the looks of it Ace, Sabo and Luffy didn't become brothers yet… I don't get it, what kind of glitch is this?)

"Miss, do you still want the room?" The barkeep asks causing her to snap out of it.

She nods. "Yup, at least for-"

"A TOAST TO THE DEATH OF ANOTHER PIRATE FROM ROGER'S CREW! MAY HE ROT IN HELL WITH THE KING OF DEVILS HIMSELF GOLD ROGER!"

They turn in shock to see a drunk ranting to the bar filled with his crew who are cheering in agreement. "Honestly, Gold Roger was just a monster! Anyone who thinks otherwise as well as was associated with him should go die in a ditch!"

Rose quickly looks to see Ace gripping his pipe and ready to pounce on him at any second. (*Sigh* So much for my room tonight…) She cracks her knuckles. "Zira, fly outside will you? I'd rather you didn't get caught in this."

(Oh crap!) She gulps then slowly nods as she flies out the open window.

She turns to the innkeeper while making sure her mask is completely secured. "Hold onto that room for me please. I have to take care of something."

She starts walking to the group before Ace could get to him while the drunk keeps going.

"Hahaha! Oh man, good thing his family and his crew are dying off one by one! Less menaces I say! If he was alive today I'd-" Rose punches him in the nose causing him to fall off his chair and everyone in the bar to look at her in shock including Ace.

She smirks behind the mask as she faces the group. "Gold Roger, the king of devils?! Ha! Don't make me laugh. Gold Roger is a man just like any of you drunks. The only difference is that he had the balls to do what he wanted in life."

The group glares at her along with most of the other patrons as they stand up and get their swords and guns ready.

"What was that?! Do you know who we are?! We're the Blood pirates!"

"We've battled that man before! He's a monster!"

"You probably never met the asshole that caused so much trouble!"

Rose shrugs her shoulders. "No, but I know enough about him to know he's worthy of being called a king unlike you losers."

"OI GUYS! WE GOTTA TEACH HER SOME MANNERS!"

The crew members started surrounding her while the civilian patrons except Ace ran out of the bar.

Rose looks around nonchalantly then raises a finger up. "If you want to get your asses kicked that's fine by me, but just give me one second. There's something I gotta do." She walks over to Ace, picks him up by the back of his shirt then walks to the open window while he's flailing his limbs.

"OI! What the hell are you doing you creepy mask girl?! Put me down!"

She chuckles as she gets ready to throw him. "Sorry to interrupt your dinner kid, but I'd rather not see you get caught in the crossfire over this." She uses her wind to help her throw him out the window about 10 feet from the inn then lands in a bush.

She closes the window then grabs her staff and turns to them. (First the nobles now these guys. Man, I needed this after the day I had.) "Ready when you are boys."

* * *

Ace brushes himself off from the bushes then glares at the bar. "What the hell was that?!" He runs back to the bar but jumps out of the way when three guys were sent flying out the door.

"What the-?" He jumps out of the way for half of the guys to make a run for it while screaming in terror.

"SHE'S A REAL DEMON!"

"RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!"

"IS SHE GOLD ROGERS KID OR SOMETHING?! SHE'S A MONSTER!"

Ace widens his eyes in shock as he runs back inside to see knocked out pirates everywhere on broken tables, broken glasses everywhere and Rose brushing herself off with Zira flying inside. "You ok Zira?"

She nods.

"Glad to hear." She goes into the pirates' stuff then hands their money to the barkeep. "I apologize for the mess. Will this cover it?"

He slowly nods as he takes the money from her. "What are you?"

"Just a pirate." (Hehe, this must be how it feels for Sebastian Michaelis.) She freezes when she senses Ace then picks up his pipe and turns to him. "Hi kid, sorry about throwing you. Here's your pipe back." She tosses it back to him.

He stares at her in shock. "Why did you defend Gold Roger?"

She shrugs her shoulders. "That talk about anyone associated with him should die pissed me off. You don't choose who you're related to, so why pay for it? Besides, just because he achieved something amazing like traveling the world doesn't make him a demon. Why do you ask?"

"N-nothing!" He runs away causing Rose to lightly giggle.

(That kid really is a tsundere.) She walks back to the innkeeper who's quivering in fear.

"U-um, I'm sorry but I realize we ran out of rooms!" (I can't have her staying here or those pirates could come back and destroy the place!)

She softly sighs. (I figured this would happen… Oh well, it was worth it to defend Ace.) "I understand. I apologize for the scare. Do you know of any open places?"

He quickly shakes his head. "No. I'm sorry!"

"Thanks anyway. Come on Zira." She walks out of the inn with Zira following.

Zira sighs. "Did you really have to beat them up?"

"It was either a beating from me or him. I think they would've preferred it from me."

"So what now?"

"Looks like we're camping tonight." They make it to the woods where they find a soft spot to sleep at.

"There's never a peaceful day with you around is there?" Zira says as she lands on a tree.

She starts chuckling while using her bag as a makeshift pillow. "Hehe, I guess not. Consider this a warmup for when the crew gets back together. Once that happens you're never gonna have a boring day again."

She nods with a smile. "Glad to hear. So, any idea what this glitch is?"

"I honestly have no idea… I know what part of the past we're in at least. We're in the part where Luffy-"

"WAAH!"

They look out in shock in the direction of the scream. "Speak of the rubber devil." Rose runs to the direction of the scream and watches from afar to see a 7 year old Luffy crying while running for his life from an angry bear.

Zira stares at the bear in shock. "Are you sure we should be sleeping in the woods Rose?"

"We can talk about that later!" Rose creates a wind cannon and fires it at the bear to knock him out.

Luffy blinks in confusion as he stops crying then turns around to see the bear knocked out. "Huh?" He looks around but doesn't find anyone then shrugs his shoulders and keeps walking.

(Luffy…) Rose follows Luffy as he makes the journey to Dadan's hut and keeps firing wind cannons at the animals about to attack Luffy from behind until he makes it home.

After he's safe they start walking down the mountain.

Zira lands onto her shoulder. "I'm impressed Rose. I thought you'd run over to greet him after not seeing him all this time."

"Cut me some slack. I still don't know what I need to do here… If saving Ace caused this glitch then it has to have something to do with those three… *Sigh* I'll figure it out tomorrow… Let's just get some sleep."

"What if the bear attacks us?!"

"Relax; we'll stay in the woods close to Fushia Village. The animals don't bother anyone there." They make it to a safe part in the woods then get ready to sleep.

"So what part of the past are we in?" Zira asks as she gets ready to sleep.

"We're in the part where Luffy is trying to get Ace to accept him as a friend. He doesn't accept him until after he and Sabo save Luffy from Porchemy." (I have to hold myself back from beating them up if I see them…)

Zira nods in understanding. "We can figure it out tomorrow. Night."

"Good night."

* * *

 _10 year old Rose is walking into her foster home for the first time with her foster father Rick:_ _a skinny 45 year old tan man with messy short black hair, and blue eyes wearing a black stained t-shirt and blue jeans._

 _"The rules are simple. You can do whatever you want, but you have to take care of yourself and don't embarrass me got it?" Rick asks as he shows her around the house._

 _She slowly nods while showing a blank expression. (I just have to endure this until either I find a way out of this world or I turn 18… I can do this…)_

 _"Here's your room." He shows her a dull brown bedroom about 9 feet by 10 feet consisting of only a bed and an old dresser. "I don't want to hear any complaining."_

 _"Ok."_

 _"Good, come with me." He leads her to the living room where 11 year old Marie and Laura are watching tv on the couch._

 _"Marie, Laura, please come here."_

 _Marie pauses the show then walks up to her with Laura._

 _"So this is her?" Marie asks_

 _Rick nods. "Go introduce yourself."_

 _"H-hi there, I'm Rose. Let's get along." She extends her hands for them to shake._

 _Both of them take it with a grin._

 _"Hi. I'm Marie, and this is Laura. So, what do you do for fun?"_

 _Rose starts to relax a little. (Maybe they're not so bad.) "I like stargazing, anime, I also like regular movies involving fighting, fantasy, and adventures. What about you guys?"_

 _"None of that stuff. I prefer more things in the real life." Laura says._

 _"Isn't anime Chinese? That's weird. Does she have to stay dad?" Marie asks._

 _Rose twitches an eyebrow in irritation. (I take it back. These people stink.)_

 _Rick sighs. "Sorry, we're getting paid a good sum by the government to keep her so she's staying. I agree that she's a weird one… Those crazy astronomers just had to leave her behind…"_

 _Rose grits her teeth in rage. "Don't insult my parents! They're not crazy!"_

 _He smacks her across the face in irritation. "Did they prove that other worlds exist?"_

 _She rubs the red mark on her pale cheek while glaring at him._ _"No, but that's what I'm here for!"_

 _"Ha! The day you do that is when dogs fly!" He picks her up under his arm before she takes a swing at him and takes her to her room. "Here's a lesson for you. Unless you take a dose of reality you won't get anywhere in life!" He throws her into the room and crashes her back onto the opposite wall. She lands onto the bed after he slams the door shut._

 _She sits up, rubs her aching back, punches her pillow to calm herself down then goes into her bag to read one of her mangas to cheer herself up while holding back from crying. (The sooner I leave this world the better...)_

* * *

Rose slowly wakes up then sighs as she rubs her eyes. (Man, even my dream sucked… *Sigh* At least it's behind me now. Hehe, I wonder what happened to those jerks after I left? Oh well.)

She gets up when Zira wakes up. "Morning Rose."

"Morning Zira, wanna get some breakfast before we head out?"

She nods as they head to Fushia village and they walk into the party bar to find some food.

A green haired barkeeper walks over to them with a friendly smile. "Hello there, my name's Makino. What can I get you?"

Rose smiles behind her mask. "Hi Makino. I'll get some eggs for me and my friend to go." She points to Zira who's nodding.

She nods with a grin as she gets them ready. "That's one smart bird you have there. Are you new here?"

"Yup, we're pirates."

"I see, how long do you plan on staying?"

"I'm not entirely sure… We kind of wound up here by accident. I gotta say though, it's really nice here."

She giggles as she finishes the food and packs them up. "I'm glad you like it here. I hope you come back to visit before leaving."

She nods as she pays for the food. "We will. Thank you Makino."

They head out in order to eat in the forest. When she senses that no one is around she takes off the mask and eats with Zira.

"Shouldn't we be close to the guys Rose?" Zira asks.

Rose nods as she finishes her food. "Don't worry we will be. I need to come up with a fake name in case I have to introduce myself to Luffy and Ace…"

Zira nods in agreement. "Yea, even though they think you're dead at your time they could get suspicious when they first meet you. I got one! How about Sally?"

"No way! How about Rukia?" (I've always liked Rukia Kuchiki.)

Zira tilts her head in thought then nods. "That works. Ready to go?"

"Yup." She puts her mask back on then closes her eyes to practice her observation haki to sense them. She picks her bag up and heads out with Zira to find the boys.

* * *

Ace rushes over to the tree that he and Sabo are hiding their money in with a bag of loot. He searches the area to see Luffy gone then calls up to Sabo. "Sabo, are you there?"

Sabo looks down from the tree while grinning. "Hi Ace."

Ace widens his eyes in shock at Sabo's missing tooth as he climbs up. "What the hell happened to your tooth?!"

"Just a steal gone wrong. I'm ok though, I managed to get a job done."

"If you're ok then it's fine. I got a big haul today." He grins as he shows off his loot causing Sabo to look at it in shock.

"Whoa! You got more than me! How did you do it?!"

"I stole it from a bunch of traders near the gate."

"Looks like you beat me again."

"Who cares about winning? It's our pirate savings after all."

He nods in agreement while grinning as he places the money in the hidden spot. "I wonder how much we need for a pirate ship?"

Ace shrugs. "Who knows? We still have ways to go. Hurry and close it before someone sees."

"PIRATE SHIP?! YOU GUYS WANT TO BE PIRATES TOO?!" Ace and Sabo look down in shock to see Luffy looking at them with excitement.

They quickly rush down from the tree then grab Luffy and tie him to the tree.

Sabo crosses his arms over his chest and glares at Luffy. "So this is the Luffy you were telling me about."

Luffy nods "Ace talks about me?!"

"He tells me you're an idiot!"

"Shishishi! He's funny!"

"That's not a compliment!"

Ace groans in irritation. "I can't believe he managed to follow me all the way up here now."

Sabo shakes his head. "This is why I said to come live with me Ace! That training of yours bit us in the ass!"

Ace glares at him. "Shut up! Now he knows our secret! If we leave him alone then he'll tell someone!"

Luffy keeps grinning like nothing bad is happening while Ace and Sabo look at him darkly.

"Let's kill him." Ace says.

Sabo nods in agreement. "Let's do it."

Luffy freezes in shock before screaming. "EEEEEEHHHH?! DON'T KILL ME! I DON'T WANNA DIE! SOMEBODY SAVE ME!"

Sabo pushes his mouth shut to shut him up. "Shut up you idiot!"

Ace turns to Sabo in irritation. "Sabo! Go ahead and do it!"

"Why do I have to do it?! You do it!"

"I never killed anyone before!"

"I never did either! I don't know how to do it!"

"Don't drop me in the water!" Luffy cries out.

Ace looks at him in realization. "Right the river!"

"Why did he tell us that?!" Sabo asks.

"Because he's an idiot!"

Rose and Zira watch the scene from the trees.

"Wow, Ace is completely different compared to when he's older." Zira says causing Rose to nod as she clenches her fists.

"Yup, a part of me wants to go down there and whack them but this event is too important…" They keep watching the scene when they hear shouting.

"WHO'S OVER THERE?!" Porchemy yells causing Ace and Sabo to freeze, untie Luffy and hide in the bushes as Porchemy and his henchmen walk into the area.

"Are you sure it's Ace that stole the money?" Porchemy asks.

The henchman nods. "Yes it was. I'm ashamed of it, but he took me by surprise…"

(Damnit, I stole from Porchemy?!) Ace looks at them in frustration as they search the area when Luffy runs in and gets caught by Porchemy.

Luffy struggles to get out of his grasp. "Hey! Let me go! Help me Ace!"

Porchemy looks at him in shock. "You just said Ace right? Do you know him?"

"He's my friend. Though he did try to kill me."

"That friend of yours took our money and ran away. Do you know where it is?"

Ace and Sabo stay hidden in the bushes in frustration.

"They'll find our treasure!" Sabo says.

"That idiot had better not say a word!" Ace says.

Luffy purses his lips to the side while whistling and shifting his eyes everywhere. "I… I don't know where the treasure is…."

Zira stares at him in utter shock. "Oh my god, he's an even worse liar than you are!"

"Don't remind me…" Roses knuckles turn white from clenching them so hard as they keep watching the scene.

Porchemy chuckles as he starts walking away with Luffy. "It looks like you leave us no choice then. Don't worry, I'll make you tell us."

Luffy flails his limbs to try to escape. "Let me go! Where are you taking me?! Help me!"

(…) Rose does everything she can to hold herself back from going after them as they left the scene and Ace and Sabo leave the bushes.

Ace grits his teeth in frustration. "Damnit, he's gonna tell them where it is as soon as they hit him. Come on! We gotta move the treasure!" He and Sabo rush to the spot and start taking their loot from the hideaway.

"What the hell?! Shouldn't they be going after Luffy?!" Zira asks.

Rose sighs. "They only go to save him after they found out he didn't tell them about the treasure. Until then, Porchemy will torture Luffy to try to get it out of him…"

"WHAT?! Then what do we do?!"

"We can't save Luffy outright or their brotherhood might get ruined… We could lower the damage from afar though. Come on!"

Rose and Zira start heading to Grey Terminal.

* * *

"COUGH IT UP! TELL US WHERE THE TREASURE IS!" Porchemy yells as he tries to get the information out of Luffy by punching him with spiked gloves.

Luffy shakes his head as he's dangling on the rope. "I WON'T SAY ANYTHING!"

Porchemy grits his teeth in frustration when they hear Ace's voice from outside. "IF YOU WANT THE TREASURE COME AND GET ME! I HAVE IT OUT HERE!"

The guys jolt in shock.

"Ace…" Luffy starts tearing up again.

"Half of you go get him and bring him here! The rest of you stay with me to watch the kid! We can use him as leverage!" Porchemy says as half of them run outside to go after Ace but he wasn't outside.

"Huh? Where is he?"

"THIS WAY, YOU MORONS!" They freeze as they hear Ace's voice in the woods.

"LET'S GET HIM!" The men charge into the woods but still can't find him.

"Thanks for falling for the trick." The guys look up in shock to see Zira smirking at him while Rose jumps off the tree behind them.

"So you guys like beating up kids? Come at me then!"

They look at her in shock before glaring at her.

"You're friends with Ace aren't you?! We'll make you pay for stealing our money!"

Rose shuts her eyes to practice her observation haki as she dodges their swords then grabs her staff and uses her wind to zip through the group and knock them out.

Rose nods in satisfaction then looks up at Zira. "Did I ever mention how awesome your devil fruit is Zira?"

"You can say it more often. Are those two going to save Luffy yet?"

Rose uses her observation haki to sense Ace and Sabo rushing over to the hideout. "It looks like they're on their way. Wanna watch them kick some butt?"

Zira nods as they make it back to Porchemy's hideout.

* * *

Porchemy is waiting impatiently for the others to come back. "What the hell is taking those guys so long?! We're running out of time!" He turns back to Luffy. "Tell us where the treasure is right now!"

"I won't say!"

Porchemy grits his teeth in frustration as he grabs his sword. "Fine, then! Go die!"

He raises his sword to attack when Ace and Sabo scream while break through the wall. "STOP IT!"

All the pirates except Porchemy flinch at the sight as the boys charge at them. "THAT'S HIM BOSS! THAT'S ACE!"

"What happened to those other guys?! Did he take them out?!"

Porchemy grabs Ace by the neck. "So you decided to come out of hiding! About time! I was starting to get worried!"

Sabo jumps from behind and hits him on the back of the head with his pipe to let him go.

While Ace is attacking some of the pirates Sabo swipes one of the pirates' knives and cuts Luffy's ropes and grabs onto him. "Come on Ace, let's get out of here!"

Ace shakes his head as he glares at Porchemy. "Go ahead of me!"

Sabo turns to him in shock. "What are you doing you idiot?!"

"Once I face an enemy I never run."

"He has a sword dumbass!"

Porchemy gets his sword ready. "Aren't you giving into your urges too much? Just give up the money."

"I can use it for better things than you can."

"ENOUGH!" Porchemy slashes through Ace's pipe and goes to attack him but Sabo puts Luffy down and hits Porchemy to back him up.

Sabo and Ace face Porchemy head on while some of his henchmen surround them.

Luffy watches in awe as Ace and Sabo defeat Porchemy and his men before passing out.

Ace punches Porchemy in the face and knocks him out while Sabo took care of the henchmen.

Sabo picks Luffy up and carries him on his back as they walk out of the hideout while Rose and Zira watched the show from a distance.

"Wow, they're not so bad huh?" Zira asks causing her to nod while grinning behind her mask.

"Yea, they're rough around the edges but they're good brothers." (I'd rather have lived with them growing up than Marie and Laur-) Rose snaps out her thoughts when she sees one of the pirates staggering out with a gun in his hand and aims it at the guys.

(Oh crap!) Rose rushes to the scene and before he can shoot Rose punches him in the nose and knocks him down.

Both boys turn in shock to see her knock him down then freeze as she sensed them staring at her.

(Shit, now I've done it…) She turns to them and then endured the painfully awkward silence with them for a minute.

"Umm…" She flashes the peace sign with her right hand then starts running when Ace runs in front of her with Sabo's pipe and points it at her.

"Hold it mask girl! Who the hell are you?! What are you doing here?!"

(Should I tell him about Rose? She told me not to tell anyone… I'll see where this goes…) Sabo nervously watches the exchange.

She waves her hands defensively. "Take it easy kid. I'm not with these guys. I'm-"

"PORCHEMY! WHERE'S THE MONEY?!" They freeze when they hear Bluejam yelling.

"I'm getting you out of here before you get us killed!" Rose picks Ace up over her shoulder while she and Sabo make a run for it before Bluejam shows up.

Zira sighs as she follows them (Like I said not a peaceful day with her around…) She stares at them blankly before chuckling. (Oh well, it's pretty fun being her friend.)

* * *

After the group makes it to safety Ace jumps out of Roses hold and glares at her and Zira while Sabo patches Luffy up after he woke up.

"Who the hell are you?! And what's with the bird?!"

(Here goes nothing… Good thing I'm wearing a mask right now…) She nervously grins. "You can call me Rukia. This is my friend Zira. We're travelling pirates."

"Nice to meet you." Zira says

Ace and Luffy's eyes bug out in shock. "A TALKING BIRD?!"

"Yup, I ate a devil fruit that allows me to copy voices." Zira changes her voice to sound like Luffy's. "Hi guys!"

"WHOA! THAT'S AWESOME! What other voices can you do?!" Luffy asks as Zira keeps imitating other voices.

Sabo stares at Rose in confusion. (She's not gonna tell them her real name? She told them Zira's though…)

Ace recovers from the shock then glares at her. "Where's your crew?"

Rose rubs the back of her neck sheepishly. "That's kind of hard to explain. You see, my crew got separated then a lot of strange things happened and we kind of wound up here."

He keeps glaring at her as he gets ready to fight. "Why should I believe you? You could be working under Bluejam!"

Sabo runs in front of him. "She's not working under Bluejam Ace! I think we can trust her!"

"Why should we?"

"Remember how I told you I lost my tooth from a steal gone wrong yesterday? It was a bunch of nobles that attacked me and she stopped them from hitting me even though they were from the royal family."

Ace widens his eyes at this then scoffs. "Whatever, I'm still gonna keep an eye on you got it?!"

She nods. "Whatever you want. As long as you don't mess with those pirates anymore."

Luffy stops playing with Zira as he remembers what happened then starts tearing up. "I thought I was gonna die…"

(Luffy…) Rose looks at him softly while Ace glares at him.

"Shut up! I hate crybabies!"

Luffy sucks it up then bows to them. "Thank you… For saving me… Waah!" Luffy starts crying again causing Ace to glare at him

"Why you!"

Sabo puts a hand in front of him. "Easy Ace, he's trying to thank us."

Rose goes over to ruffle Luffy's hair. "It's ok kid."

Luffy looks up at her in shock when Ace glares at him. "WHY DIDN'T YOU JUST SPILL THE SECRET?!"

"If I did then you wouldn't let me be your friend…"

"It'd still be better than dying wouldn't it?! Why do you want to be friends with me so badly?!"

"BECAUSE THERE'S NO ONE ELSE!"

Rose, Zira, Ace and Sabo stare at him in shock as he keeps going while weeping. "I can't go back to Fushia Village, and I hate the mountain bandits! If I didn't follow you then I'd be alone! That's worse than getting beaten up!"

Ace keeps staring at him. "What about your parents?"

"I don't have any. It's just grandpa."

"… So it hurts when I'm not here and if I'm here you're happy?"

He nods. "Yup."

"Then you want me to live?"

"Of course!"

Ace looks at him in shock then rubs the back of his head. "I hate spoiled kids like you though."

Luffy looks at him angrily. "I'm not a spoiled kid! I'm strong!"

"What kind of strong kid cries like a little girl?!"

"You try getting punched by spikes! I'm only 7! When I'm older I'll get stronger!"

"I didn't even cry when I was 7! Don't compare me to you!"

Rose holds back from laughing as Sabo breaks up the fight.

"Is this supposed to happen?" Zira asks in a whisper.

She nods as she whispers back. "So far everything's ok."

"Guys, we have a problem." Sabo says causing everyone to look at him. "I live in Grey Terminal, but now our lives are gonna get targeted by Bluejam."

"In that case stay with us." Luffy says with a grin.

Ace nods in agreement. "It's better if we stay together."

Sabo nods but freezes when he sees Rose and Zira leaving. "Hey, wait Ro- I mean Rukia! Where are you going?"

Rose stops and turns to them. "It's been a long day. We're gonna go hit the hay."

"Won't hitting hay make you more tired though?" Luffy asks causing Ace to hit him.

"No you idiot! It's an expression. You're heading to that inn from last night?"

Zira shakes her head. "Nope, it turns out the place had no more rooms so we're camping out."

Ace looks at them in shock. (Before that fight it sounded like they had a room set up though… Did they get kicked out because of that bar fight to defend Roger?)

"Why not stay with us?" Luffy asks causing them to look at him in shock.

Rose shakes her head. "Sorry Luffy, I don't wanna im-" She's cut off as Luffy and Sabo each grab a leg.

"They'll be after you too right? So we should stay together. Come on Rukia." Sabo says with a grin. (I want to know why she's in hiding too.)

"Plleeeaaaassseeee?" Luffy begs with puppy dog eyes.

Rose sweat drops at their persistence. (Oh man, these kids… What the hell do I do here?!) "Help me out Zira."

She sits on her shoulder and whispers to her. "You said it'll help us if we stay close to them, so why not?"

"Quit being stubborn and come on already!" Ace says as he walks ahead.

Rose blinks in surprise then nods. (I guess it can't hurt if I don't interfere too much... But when Bluejam takes Sabo… *Sigh* I'll see what happens.) "Thanks. Let's go."

"By the way, why are you wearing a mask?" Luffy asks as she picks him and Sabo up.

"I've gotten used to wearing it. It gets fun after a while and I feel pretty mysterious with it."

"How about showing us your face?" Ace asks

"Don't wanna."

Ace glares at her when Zira flies up to him and whispers to him. "She's got this really bad burn on her face that she's ashamed to show people. Don't press her."

Ace widens his eyes at this then nods. "Ok."

"It's really cool!" Luffy says with a grin as they make it to Dadans hut and sneak into the bedroom.

"Much better than the woods." Zira says as she makes herself comfortable.

Rose nods in agreement as she puts Luffy and Sabo down and gets ready for bed. (It's ok to sleep with the mask on as long as it's secured… I'd better be careful though…)

"Rukia." Sabo motions his hand for her while Ace and Luffy fall asleep.

She sits next to him and he starts whispering. "Why didn't you tell them your real name? Your name really is Rose right?"

She nods and whispers back. "It's hard to explain. Remember how I said that I can't have people recognizing me?"

He nods.

"Well, Ace and Luffy are some of the people I can't have recognizing me."

He looks at her in confusion. "What do you mean? This is their first time meeting you right? Why can't you have them recognizing you?"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"Try me."

"I'm from the future."

He stares at her blankly. "… You're right, I don't believe you… But, I'll keep quiet for you on one condition. Tell me one of your adventures before going to bed."

She nods. (I did promise… I shouldn't go into my adventures with Luffy… As long as I don't mention the war the Talon Mines should be ok.) "Ok, I'll tell you about how I met Zira."

He nods in excitement as she quietly tells him her adventure in the Talon Mines before falling asleep.

* * *

The next morning Magra walks into the bedroom in shock of to see the boys sprawled on the floor and using Rose as a pillow while she's sleeping soundly with her mask on and Zira sleeping in a corner.

"DADAN! LOOK AT THIS!"

Dadan and the other mountain bandits run in to find them asleep.

Dadan looks at them in utter confusion. (What the hell?! A masked girl, another boy and a bird?!) "ACE! LUFFY! WHO ARE THESE GUYS?! I'M NOT RUNNING AN INN HERE!"

"I'M AWAKE!" Rose jolts up causing the boys to roll off of her.

Rose looks around to see the boys still asleep then freezes when she sees Dadan.

(So this is Luffy and Ace's foster mother. Hehe, this'll be funny.) She gets up then politely bows to her. "I apologize for the intrusion Dadan. My name is Ro- Rukia... The bird is my friend Zira."

Dadan quirks an eyebrow in confusion. (She's more polite than I thought. What's with the mask?)

"What are you doing here? And what's with the mask?"

She rubs the back of her head while the boys and Zira start getting up. "The boys got into a fight with some pirates and I helped them out. Afterwards, they kind of invited me to stay over. About the mask, I'd rather not talk about it."

Before Dadan can ask any more questions Sabo walks up to her with a grin and shakes her hand. "Nice to meet you Dadan. I'm Sabo."

She looks at him in shock. "I've heard of you! You're a real shit!"

He chuckles. "And I heard that you're a real bitch."

"WHAT WAS THAT?! COME HERE YOU LITTLE PIPSQUEAK!" The boys, Rose and Zira start laughing as they run out of the hut with Dadan yelling at them. "IF YOU'RE STAYING HERE THEN YOU'D BETTER CATCH SOMETHING GOOD! I WON'T HAVE ANY FREELOADERS HERE!"

Rose nods. "DON'T WORRY, I'LL KEEP THEM SAFE FOR YOU DADAN!"

They head out into the woods to start their new daily lives.

TO BE CONTINUED


	30. Chapter 30

A week has passed since Rose and Zira started tagging along with the ASL trio. Today Zira, Luffy and Sabo watch in amusement as Rose and Ace face off for the fifth time today.

Ace tries to whack her with his pipe but she blocks with her staff then back kicks him in the stomach and sends him flying at a tree.

Zira and Luffy start laughing freely while Ace glares at them.

"Match goes to Rukia." Sabo says as her writes down the score while holding back from laughing. (Hehe, it's really fun watching Rose kick his ass.)

Rose nods as she casually waves at him. "Good match Ace."

Ace grits his teeth in frustration as he gets up. "I want a rematch!"

Rose tilts her head. "Again? I've been kicking your ass all day. Why not give someone else a try?"

"I want a go!" Luffy says as he runs up to her.

"Sounds good to me." She drops her staff then gets in a stance as he tries to punch her but his hand ricocheted off the ground and punched him.

She walks up to him and lightly bonks him on the head. "Good try."

Luffy grumbles in frustration as he rubs his head. "What am I doing wrong?"

(That's right, even Luffy had trouble with his devil fruit at the beginning…) Rose stares at him softly for a second before turning to Ace and Sabo. "You two go spar with each other. Zira, you can be the ref." She picks Luffy up and walks off into the forest while the others look at them in confusion as they leave.

Luffy looks up at her in confusion as she carries him through the forest. "Where are we going?"

"Just a good place to practice." She makes it to a clearing then sets him down. "You want to learn how to punch?"

He looks at her in shock. "You'll teach me?!"

She nods while grinning behind her mask. "Yup, we'll show the others how strong your fists are."

He nods with excitement as he gets in a stance. "Let's do it!"

* * *

Ace and Sabo have finished their sparring match in a draw then turn to the direction Rose went with Luffy.

"What exactly is she doing with Luffy?" Sabo asks.

"I wouldn't worry about it." Zira says as she flies to them. "Knowing her, she's probably teaching him how to throw a punch."

Ace scoffs at this as he crosses his arms over his chest. "She'll have to be a miracle worker to pull that off with his devil fruit."

(As a devil fruit user herself she might be the only one out of us that can help him.) Sabo tilts his head in thought before chuckling darkly and extending a hand out to Ace. "I bet you half my dinner that she can pull it off."

Ace blinks in confusion before smirking and shakes his hand. "You're on! Let's go see them."

Zira quietly chuckles as she follows them. (Sabo can be pretty evil. Haha!)

The three of them reach the clearing and hide in the bushes as they watch Rose demonstrating how to throw a punch to Luffy. "Remember Luffy, act like your reaching for something but keep your hand in a fist so the punch reaches them." She demonstrates by kneeling to his level right next to him and extending her arm into a punch.

He nods as he tries to follow her instructions but he hits the ground and punches himself again.

Ace chuckles at this. "Told you."

"Wait." Zira says as Rose walks in front of him a few feet away, kneels at his level then opens a palm at him.

(Maybe a more visual approach can work.) She points to her open palm. "I got an idea. Try imagining that I got a piece of meat in my hand and while reaching it keep your hand in a fist."

His eyes turn into stars at this as he gets into a stance. "Alright! Gum gum pistol!" He keeps his hand in a fist as he reaches for her hand and manages to punch her hand.

Rose nods in satisfaction. "Good job! Do it again!"

He keeps aiming his punches at Roses hand and keeps managing to hit the target.

Luffy pulls back while raising his fists in excitement. "I did it!"

Ace's mouth falls to the ground in shock while Zira and Sabo laugh at him.

Sabo is the first to recover from laughing as he wipes a tear from his eye then pats him on the shoulder. "Looks like I win Ace!" (Thanks Rose.)

(I can't believe Sabo just hustled Ace!) Zira rolls on the ground laughing while Luffy keeps cheering.

Rose nods with a grin as she goes up to him and ruffles his hair. "Good job Luffy. Wanna-" She cuts herself off as she senses the others. "You three can come out of hiding now."

The boys walk out of hiding while Zira flies up to her while chuckling. "You should've seen the look on Ace's face when he threw that punch! It was priceless!"

"I'll bet."

Luffy runs up to them while pumping his fists in the air. "You guys saw that?! It was awesome! My fists really are strong like pistols!"

Sabo nods with a grin. "Good job."

Ace looks at her completely shocked. "How the hell did you do that?"

She shrugs her shoulders. "Just applied some of my old training techniques from when I was starting out."

"Seriously?!"

"Yup. So, what do you guys want to do next?"

Luffy answered for everyone when his stomach started growling like a bear.

Rose blinked in surprise before giggling. (Aww, he's the same old Luffy.) "I guess that answers that. Let's get hunting before it gets dark out."

Sabo and Luffy nod as they run ahead with Zira.

Rose starts following them when she felt her jacket being tugged by Ace from behind. She tilts her head in confusion. "Something the matter Ace?"

(It should be ok to ask her… Right?) He stares at the ground for a moment before facing her nervously. "What would you do if Gold Roger had a son?"

She blinks in surprise. (Wow, I didn't expect him to ask me… Hehe this'll be fun.) She crosses her arms across her chest while tilting her head in thought. "Well let's see… I guess it depends on the kid."

He looks at her in shock. "'On the kid?!' But Gold Roger-"

"Is a human like anyone else, same goes for his kid. If the kid's an ass then I'd have to hit him but…" She places a hand under her chin in thought. "Hmm, if he's a kid like you then I'd be his friend anytime. Was that all you wanted to ask?"

He looks at her in shock before slowly nodding.

"Alright then! Wanna race to the others? Last one there's a marine!"

He nods with a smirk as they make a run for it to catch up to them.

* * *

Hours after bringing their new catch back to the hut Zira, the boys and the bandits are wrestling over a mountain of meat while Ace reluctantly gives Sabo half of his food.

Luffy looks at Rose in confusion as she sits back and watches the show. "You're not eating again?"

She shakes her head. "I'm not that hungry yet. Don't worry, I saved some food for later." (I can't eat without taking the mask off… Man, it sucks waiting until I'm alone to eat…)

He looks at her sadly for a moment before taking a piece of food from the pile and tosses it to her with a toothy grin. "You can have it for later!"

She softly grins. "Thanks." She keeps a hold of it while watching the boys throw meat everywhere.

Zira grabs one of the flying pieces of meat and eats next to Rose while watching the boys fighting over their food along with the bandits.

One unlucky soul tried to take one of Ace's pieces of meat causing him to grab onto him and glares at him fiercely before throwing him over his shoulder and eating it.

Rose holds back from laughing as she watches the dinner war until Dadan gets agitated and gets up to kick them.

"QUIT WASTING FOOD!"

Luffy dodges then retaliates by biting her head causing her to run around while trying to get him off. "HELP ME! HE'S TRYING TO EAT ME! GET HIM OFF OF ME!"

"BWAHAHAHA!" Rose rolls over from laughing causing everyone to freeze and look at her. (Oh man this is one of my favorite scenes in the anime!)

Dadan takes the confusion to her advantage as she takes the boys, strips them then throws them into the bathroom. "DON'T COME OUT UNTIL YOU COUNT TO TEN THOUSAND!" She slams the door shut then angrily turns to Rose as she's recovering from her laughing fit. "As for you, take that stupid mask off or you're sleeping outside!"

"She's not a dog you jerk!" Zira goes to fly up to her when Rose raises a hand to stop her.

"It's ok Zira. Dadan, if that's what you want then ok."

Dadan looks at her in shock. "You're agreeing?!"

(I doubt they'd remember me in 10 years and they don't know my real name, so I don't think they'll put it together.) She nods as she slips off the mask and grabs the food that she saved before the dinner war.

All of the bandits stare at her in utter shock while she's eating causing her to get uncomfortable. (Is this how it'll be when the world finds out I'm alive?) "…Please stop staring…"

The guys snap out of it while Dadan keeps looking at her in shock. (I thought she would have some sort of scar! Why is she hiding such a cute face?!) "Why the hell are you wearing a mask?!"

"Can't have people recognizing me." She finishes her food then puts the mask back on. "Please don't tell anyone what you saw." She points to the bathroom door indicating not to tell the boys causing her to slowly nod in understanding.

"Ok, but how long do you plan on staying here? You said that you're a pirate right?"

She nods. "I am, to be honest though I have no idea how long we're staying…" (I haven't heard a thing from Cora since she sent us here…)

Dadan huffs. "Oh well, it doesn't matter as long as you don't get hurt. Between you and me I prefer you around over these kids so stay as long as you want."

Rose blinks in surprise before grinning. "Thanks, want some help cleaning up?"

She nods as they do their best to clean up before the trio comes out to make a mess again.

* * *

The boys have managed to fall asleep when Rose got up, and opened the window.

"Heading out to fly again?" Zira asks as she groggily wakes up.

She nods. "I'll only be out for a bit. I'll be quiet."

"Ok, don't be out for too long. I'll cover for you."

"Thanks." She jumps out the window and starts flying near the clouds then takes her mask off as she flies around in the night sky.

Zira watches in awe as Rose practically dances in the night sky with the clouds then softly sighs. (Poor Rose, even when no one recognizes her she still has to hold herself back from flying... When I get my talons on that old time hag I'll-)

"How long has she had that devil fruit?"

Zira freezes when she turns to see Sabo whispering to her as he joins her in watching Rose fly in the air.

She calms down then whispers back as she enjoys the show. "She's had it for over a year now. She's had to hold herself back for a while though…"

He looks at her in confusion. "Why's that?"

"It's complicated…"

"Are you two really from the future?"

She looks at him in shock. "She told you? What else did she tell you?"

"Not much else, so it's true then?"

She nods. "A crazy time witch sent us back here because Rose fell in love with her grandson and has to fix something."

"That's nuts, where in the future are you guys from?"

"More than 10 years."

He widens his eyes at this then looks out to see Rose gone. "Where'd she go?"

"I wouldn't worry about it. She probably turned herself into wind by now."

(So she can be that free huh? It must be sad that she has to hold herself back…) "Is there anything I can do? How can we send you guys back?"

She shakes her head. "Sorry, you can't do it. We're not sure what we have to do here. I guess the best thing you can do is keep quiet about her."

"I can agree with that." They turn to see Rose without her mask flying right outside the window an inch away from them causing them to jump in shock.

"Don't scare us like that!" Zira whispers as Rose chuckles while putting her mask back on and quietly hopping back into the room.

She walks inside while quietly whispering. "Sorry about that. Sabo, don't worry so much. Zira and I can figure it out. If anything, just having someone else know my real name makes me feel better. Let's get to bed."

He calms down then slowly nods as they get ready for bed then whispers. "Glad to hear that Rose. Good night."

"Night."

* * *

 _Just after the events in Enies Lobby Rose, Robin, Chopper, Nami and Sanji were relaxing in Galley La Headquarters while Luffy was eating while sleeping._

 _Franky barges into the room while pressing his arms together. "I hope everyone is SUPER today! Huh? Not everyone is here. Oh well, I got something to tell you."_

 _The group surrounds him while he sits down. "Years ago… I decided to no longer create ships. But before I knew it I was drawing blueprints for a ship to catch up to the man I look up to. My dream is to make a dream ship that can travel the world just like Gold Rogers did! With the money I stole from you guys I bought this wood from the treasure tree Adam and with the blueprints I should be able to make the ship. But before I make the ship I want to know something. Will you guys sail on the ship that I'll make?"_

 _Sanji looks at him in shock. "You're giving us the ship?"_

 _He nods. "That's right. I already got the money from you guys and I'd rather have people I like sailing this ship. What do you say?"_

 _Nami nods with a grin. "That's great! Thanks Franky!"_

 _Chopper grins with excitement. "You're not such a bad guy!"_

 _Robin keeps her grin on while nodding. "Thank you."_

 _"Can't wait to see what you make." Rose says with a grin then freezes. (Oh crap! This must be the part where 'he' shows up!) She turns to Luffy who's still sleep eating and shifts closer to him when the wall was punched through._

 _"What the hell?!" Franky gets up while Sanji gets in a stance._

 _"Who the hell is this?!" He and everyone look in shock to see a giant marine in a dog mask walking through the new hole in the wall._

 _(Oh crap, it really is Garp!) Rose gets her wind ready as Garp grins at the group._

 _"So you kids are the Straw Hat pirates?" Garp looks around to see Luffy still sleeping then runs to him._

 _The others get in a stance in front of Luffy but Garp zips through them but before he can hit Luffy a gust of wind sends him flying head first through the ceiling._

 _"Nice shot Rose!" Chopper says while Rose grabs Luffy's shoulders and shakes him._

 _"Luffy, wake up! We gotta run! A crazy marine in a dog mask is here!"_

 _He wakes up in a jolt then looks at her in fear. "Did you just say a dog mask?!"_

 _"That's right!" Garp lands right in front of them while cracking his knuckles then looks at Rose skeptically. (So this is the outsider the World Government's talking about.) "Were you the one that sent me flying?"_

 _Rose stands in front of Luffy in a stance. "That's right you old nut job!"_

 _Garp punches her in the gut and sends her flying and crashing onto the table. "Who are you calling an old nut job?!"_

 _Luffy punches him but he blocks. "Leave her alone grandpa!"_

 _"Don't talk back to me brat!" He punches him on the head and knocks him on his butt while everyone else looks at him in shock._

 _"GRANDPA?!"_

 _Robin and Chopper go over to Rose and help her up._

 _"Are you alright?" Robin asks_

 _She nods as she rubs her aching head. "Yea, Garp really is strong like the rumors say!" (His fists of love really are dangerous!)_

 _Nami turns to her in shock. "Wait, Garp as in Garp the hero?!"_

 _She nods as she glares at Garp._

 _"Is this guy really your grandpa Luffy?!" Sanji asks_

 _He nods as he cradles the lump on his head. "Yea, don't mess with him. He's a monster!"_

 _"DON'T SAY SUCH SCANDALOUS THINGS!" Garp adds a few more lumps on his head before crossing his arms over his chest. "What I did in the past: pushing you down bottomless cliffs, throwing you in the jungle, tying you to a balloon to send you flying was all to make you a strong man!"_

 _Rose twitches an eyebrow in irritation. "What part of that DOESN'T sound like a monster, you crazy old geezer?!"_

 _"Shut up wind brat! All of that was to make him into a strong marine! Luffy, I demand an apology for becoming a pirate!"_

 _Luffy gets up angrily. "I ALWAYS SAID I WANTED TO BE A PIRATE! IT'S YOUR FAULT FOR NOT LISTENING!"_

 _"NONSENSE! YOU'RE JUST UNDER RED HAIR'S BAD INFLUENCE!"_

 _"SHANKS SAVED MY LIFE! DON'T TALK BAD ABOUT HIM!"_

 _Garp grabs him by his shirt. "DON'T TALK BACK TO ME!"_

 _"AAAH! I'M SORRY!"_

 _Chopper looks at them in horror. "AAH! LUFFY WAS CAUGHT BY THE MARINES!"_

 _The others start rushing to help when Luffy and Garp fell asleep. "THEY FELL ASLEEP?!"_

 _Garp wakes up first. "Huh? What-" He looks at Luffy still sleeping then gets angry and starts punching him. "WAKE UP LUFFY! DON'T FALL ASLEEP WHILE I'M SCOLDING YOU!"_

 _Everyone else just watched the scene in dread. (Oh forget it…)_

* * *

Rose wakes up to the boys sleeping on her with Luffy on her chest with his foot on Ace's stomach as he sleeps on her stomach while Sabo sleeps on her shoulder with his hand on Luffy's face. (How do these three always manage to turn me into a pillow? Hehe, it's really cute. That dream must've been a sign that Garp's coming… If I fight him one on one maybe I can get some answers about Cora! As long as he doesn't arrest me that is…)

"Morning Rukia." Zira says as she flies up to them as the boys wake up and get off of her.

"Morning guys. So, what do you wanna do today?"

"Let's head into Goa. We can hit the restaurants." Ace says.

The others nod in agreement.

As soon as they got ready they ran over past Grey Terminal to the gate where the boys climbed onto each other's shoulders and wore a cloak.

She holds back from laughing at the appearance as they struggled to get it right. "You guys ready?"

Luffy nods as he shows his face at the hood of the cloak. "Let's go."

She pulls the hood of her jacket up to help hide her when they snuck through the gate and started causing chaos in the town.

As soon as they started running away from the guards after they dine and dashed a man in a black suit and a black top hat looked at the group in surprise.

"Sabo?! Is that really you?!"

Rose and Sabo look at him in shock as they keep running.

(So that's Outlook…) Rose clenches her fists while Ace and Luffy look at him in confusion.

"Someone's calling out for you Sabo." Ace says

"Who is that guy?" Luffy asks

"He must have me mistaken for someone else!" Sabo says as he ignores Outlooks calls

"Come home! You have to come back!" He tries to chase them but he couldn't keep up as they escaped the town.

* * *

Once the group made it to the cliff Ace and Luffy grabbed onto Sabo While Rose and Zira sit against a tree.

"Out with it Sabo!" Ace says as he starts grabbing onto Sabo's collar.

Luffy joins in causing Sabo to start choking "Yea, tell us what's going on!"

Zira lands on Roses shoulder and starts whispering. "Was that guy his dad?"

She slowly nods as Sabo escapes their hold. "Ok I'll tell you! I'm a noble's son…"

Both of the boys look at him in shock.

Luffy recovers first and tilts his head in confusion. "Who's a noble's son?"

"I am!"

Both of them blink for a moment before casually picking their noses. "So?"

"YOU BOTH WANTED TO KNOW!" Sabo sighs as he sits down next to Rose. "Both of my parents are still alive… I'm not an orphan from Grey Terminal… The man who was shouting out for me was my dad. I'm sorry that I lied to you two…"

Luffy nods with a grin. "As long as you're sorry it's ok. Right Ace?"

Ace huffs as he walks near the cliff. "To be honest, I'm just shocked. Why would you go to Grey Terminal if you were born in a noble household?"

Sabo looks down while Rose pats him on the shoulder. "Don't be mad Ace, I'm sure he has his reasons right Sabo?"

Sabo nods in agreement. "All they ever cared about was having an heir to protect their status. They never cared about me… If I couldn't marry into royalty then I was worthless in their eyes… This might be rude to say but I was alone even though I had parents… I'd take the Grey Terminal over a place where my whole life is planned out for me any day."

Ace and Luffy look at him in shock as he stands up. "Guys, we have to get out to sea someday! We need to leave this country and gain true freedom! I want to see the world and write a book about everything I find! We've gotta get stronger and become pirates!"

Ace chuckles then goes up to the cliff. "You don't need to tell me that! I'm gonna be a pirate and earn the kind of glory worth dreaming of! Only then will my life be worth it! I don't care who stands in my way! I'm gonna be a pirate who's better than them all! I'll make sure the world knows my name!"

Luffy runs up to the cliff in excitement. "I'M GONNA BE THE KING OF THE PIRATES!"

Both boys stare at him in shock while he, Rose and Zira are laughing.

"Sounds just like you Luffy." Zira says.

Rose recover then nods. "I'm rooting for you Luffy."

"Of all the things to say…" Ace stares at him in disbelief while Sabo starts laughing.

"Hahaha! You're one crazy guy Luffy. I'll be sure to keep an eye on you. Hey Rukia, what about your dream?"

Rose blinks in surprise. (They want me to go too? I'd better keep quiet about the comet…) "… I'm gonna understand everything about this world and prove that there's more than one out there. I'll show the world that they can't keep me down by what they call me, and once I return to my crew I'm never gonna hide a thing from them again!"

Sabo looks as her softly while Ace and Luffy look at her in confusion. She chuckles and rubs the back of her neck sheepishly. "Yea, it's a weird dream but it's mine. What about you Zira?"

She nods. "I'm gonna be the first bird to travel the world as a pirate!"

Luffy looks at her with excitement. "That's awesome! Join my crew!"

Ace whacks him on the head. "She has her own crew to travel with!"

Rose chuckles at this. (Even though it's actually Luffy's.)

Sabo walks up to the boys. "That leads to a problem for us though since we want to be captain…"

Ace nods in agreement. "That could be an issue…"

"Why not just join my crew?" Luffy asks causing Ace to whack him on the head.

"No way. I got an idea. Wait here." He runs off leaving them to wait until he comes back with three sake cups and a bottle of Dadan's sake. "Did you guys know that if we exchange cups of sake we can become brothers?"

Luffy looks at them in excitement. "Brothers?! Wait, what about Rukia?"

"I couldn't find a fourth cup. Besides, she's a girl so she can't be our brother."

Rose nods in agreement. "Don't worry about it. I'll still be on your side even though we'll be in different crews."

Ace nods as he pours the sake for the boys. "For us, this bond will keep us together. From today on we're brothers!"

"Yea!" The boys toast to their sake cups and begin their brotherhood then head into the woods with Rose and Zira to catch tonight's dinner.

* * *

Hours after hunting they return to the hut to find Dadan, the bandits, Makino and Fushia Village's mayor Woop Slap waiting for them.

"Hi Makino!" Rose walks up to her with a hidden grin.

Makino looks at her with surprise before grinning. "So this was where you were! I was worried that you sailed away already."

"Not yet. Some things happened and the boys invited me to stay here while I'm on the island."

She nods in understanding as she turns to the boys. "I heard about you two. You're Sabo and Ace correct?"

Both boys nod as she greets them with a smile. "Thank you for watching over Luffy."

Sabo nods with a grin while Ace starts blushing.

"Not a problem." Sabo says.

"Yea, whatever." Ace looks away while blushing causing Luffy to look at him in confusion.

"Why are you red?"

"Shut up!"

Everyone laughs while Dadan finishes preparing. "Let's just eat."

The group except Rose starts eating causing Woop Slap to look at her suspiciously. "Why are you wearing a mask?"

"Makes me look cool."

"THAT'S NOT A REASON! Take it off and eat!"

She shakes her head. "I'll eat later. I'm curious though, what's it like being mayor?"

"Don't change the subject!"

Makino giggles as she places a hand on his shoulder. "Everyone has things they don't want to show."

He huffs in frustration and gets back to his food while Rose giggles then closes her eyes to practice her observation haki and senses Garp coming.

(Oh crap! He really is coming!) Rose makes sure her staff is close to her while the boys are enjoying their food.

"This food is great! I'm gonna make sure I have the best chef in the world on my ship!" Sabo says.

Ace shakes his head as he grabs his food. "I'm sailing out first, so I'm gonna have the best chef on my crew!"

Garp walks up to the doorway when Luffy interrupts them. "No way! My pirate crew's gonna have the best chef!"

The bandits that see Garp do a spit take causing the boys to freeze.

"So you idiots are still going on about that?"

Ace and Luffy freeze and turn to Garp in fear as he runs up to them. "WHAT PART ABOUT YOU BECOMING STRONG MARINES DIDN'T YOU UNDERSTAND?!"

He goes to punch them but Rose blocks his fist with her haki infused staff. "How about waiting until after dinner before fighting you crazy old geezer?"

He grits his teeth in rage. "Who are you to call me a crazy old geezer?!"

"Rukia, and unless you want to be sent flying I suggest you wait before fighting the kids."

"What the- You cheeky brat, you're not one of these bandits! Who are you?!"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" The two of them get into a glaring match while Luffy, Ace and Sabo stare at them.

"So this guy is your grandpa?" Sabo asks causing Ace to slowly nod while Luffy doesn't read the atmosphere.

"She's not a bandit she's a-" Before Luffy can tell him she's a pirate Zira rushes to him and whispers to him. "Don't tell him she's a pirate!"

He nods while Garp and Rose are having a glaring match before he calms down, starts laughing, and pats her on the shoulder. "You got guts! I like you. Wanna be a marine?"

"Hell no!"

He punches her on the head knocking her down. "What's wrong with being a marine?!"

All three boys run in between her and Garp.

"Leave her alone you damn geezer!" Ace says.

"What was that?! And who are you kid?! You mentioned going out to sea too!" He points to Sabo causing Luffy to run in front of him.

"He's not kid! His name's Sabo! We exchanged the cups of sake to become brothers!"

Ace looks at him in frustration. "That mouth of his!"

Garp darkly chuckles as he cracks his knuckles. "Oh? So now I have three kids to train huh?"

Rose gets up and clenches her fists. "Boys… RUN LIKE YOUR LIVES FREAKING DEPEND ON IT!"

They make a run for it with Garp in pursuit but before he can catch up to them Rose infuses her arm with haki and punches him to a tree while the boys make their escape into the woods.

Rose cracks her knuckles as Garp gets up and glares at her. "Before you go after the boys Garp I have some questions I need answered from you. I'll give you a good fight in exchange for it." (I'm so gonna get my ass handed to me but I have to do this...)

He quirks an eyebrow but smirks as he gets in a stance. "So you can use haki too? Sounds good to me brat! I won't hold back!" He charges at her with his haki infused arm as she clenches her eyes shut to practice her observation haki as she dodges.

"I didn't think you would. The question regards your in-law Cora."

He immediately freezes in shock while she infuses her leg in haki then kicks him and sends him flying through a tree. He sits up and starts trembling as she tilts her head in confusion and opens her eyes. (I didn't hit him that hard did I?) "Are you ok?"

He immediately gets up and grabs her shoulders frantically. "Is that crazy old hag here?! Where is she?! Don't tell me she's in this time!"

(Holy crap, he's scared of Cora!) She pushes him off of her. "Calm down old man! I don't know where she is. She sent me to the past and I want to know if there's some way to contact her."

He looks at her in shock before shaking his head then punches her and sends her flying to a tree. "Sorry, can't help you. The old hag only comes and goes as she pleases, but if she sent you here she'll be sure to find you. She never leaves people in different times no matter how much she doesn't like them."

She widens her eyes in shock at this then nods as she manages to get back up and charges at him. "Thanks. This information is useful."

He nods before smirking as he dodges her punch and exchanges blows. "So, which of my grandsons is she testing you out for?"

She widens her eyes in shock and blushes behind the mask as she dodges a punch and manages to punch him but he stays standing as they exchange blows. "E-Excuse me?"

"She only gives time trips to people she's testing to be in the family. Dragon still won't tell me what time she sent him to. Since you said you came to the past that means she's testing you out for Luffy or Ace. Weird though she told me she never sends people to places where others might know them. What did you do to set her off?"

She looks at him in utter shock as she dodges his punches. (Are you kidding me?! Does that mean even if there wasn't a glitch I would've been sent on a time trip?! If what Garp said is true then there definitely is one or I would've been sent to some time when Luffy isn't here!) She snaps out of it when Garp sends her flying but she ricochets herself off a tree and uses her wind to send herself flying, infuses her arm in haki, punches him in the nose, knocks him down.

She walks up to him while grinning behind the mask. "Sorry to disappoint, but I can't tell you what I did. Let's just say I altered something very important and she's pissed off at me. You'll find out who I'm in love with when I'm back home."

Garp gets up while sending her flying with an uppercut then slams her to the ground with a fist of love while laughing. "Hahaha! That was fun! You really do have guts! Can't wait to meet you in the future."

She sits up in irritation. "I'm willing to wait to see you again!"

He whacks her on the head in irritation. "Don't talk like that to your future grandpa in-law!"

"Don't go beating up your grandsons then!" She glares at him then widens her eyes and waves. "There you are Cora! Good to see you."

"WHAT?! WHERE?!" He looks around in fear but saw that she wasn't there. He clenches his fists in irritation when he turns back to her to see Rose gone. "Cheeky brat! When I see her again I'll be sure to give her a good fist of love! Speaking of which I should find the boys!" He runs off into the forest to go find the kids while Rose hides behind a tree.

Zira flies up to her after watching the show. "You ok? That guy really is nuts."

She nods. "Don't worry, I'm fine. Did you listen to the conversation?"

"Yup, it's great! It looks like she didn't just ditch us here."

"I'm glad to hear that."

Both Rose and Zira turn in shock to see Makino grinning at them.

Rose widens her eyes in shock. "How much of the conversation did you hear?"

"I heard enough. Don't worry, your secret's safe with me. I think it's pretty romantic being tested like this."

(If she didn't send me to another time to test me I'd think so too.) She softly sighs. "As long as I pass then It's fine. What about you Makino? Is there anyone special for you?"

She widens her eyes as she lightly blushes. "Well, there is one man…"

She smirks behind the mask. "You know, you look like the type to go for the redheaded pirates like Shanks."

She looks at her in shock. "You know Shanks?!"

She nods. "Yup, don't worry you got my full support. He comes back to the island in 11 years."

"Really?! I'm glad he's ok!"

"Yup, I'm travelling with him in my time and I think he misses you too."

"Really?!"

"Yup."

"WAAAH!" They freeze and turn to the direction of the boys' screaming.

"Looks like Garp found the boys. Sorry Makino, I gotta go. Good luck with Shanks!" She runs off with Zira to go help the boys fight off Garp. "LEAVE THEM ALONE YOU CRAZY OLD MAN!"

Makino grins as she walks down the mountain. "I'm glad for you Luffy. You're not alone now." She safely heads home while hearing trees falling in the distance as Garp pummels Rose and the trio.

* * *

Hours after the beat down from Garp the group makes it safely back to the hut and gets ready for bed.

"No offense guys, but your grandpa's a monster..." Rose says as she gets her jacket off.

Ace and Luffy slowly nod as they lay down on the floor from exhaustion. "We know…"

(I thought I was gonna die…) Sabo lays down then softly looks at Rose as she makes sure the mask is secured. (… I wish there was a way for me to bring her back home… Maybe in 10 years I'll try to find her and warn her of the time witch!) He nods to himself as his eyelids get heavy and he falls asleep.

Zira watches the sleeping boys with a soft grin then whispers to Rose. "I'm glad we got to know them as kids, but how long do you think she'll keep us here?"

Rose softly sighs as she sits down and softly looks at the boys while whispering. "I'm not sure… I'm not even sure if we're fixing the glitch. So far, things seem to be going according to the timeline…"

A note appears in front of Rose causing her to look at it in shock as she picks it up and reads it.

 **To Rose,**

 **Thanks for the show against Garp that was funny! Very smart of you to talk to him about this. So far so good on your end. The timeline is starting to look good. It looks like you're still confused about the actual glitch. Sorry, but I still won't tell you what it is. You're making things pretty fun to watch. Don't get me wrong though just because I give you a little bit of praise doesn't mean that I accepted you yet! I'm not sending you back unless I'm sure the timeline is fixed and I know you're worthy of being with Luffy! Don't do anything stupid and don't mess with the future events!**

 **I'll be sure to enjoy the show,**

 **Cora**

Rose crumples up the note and throws it in her bag in irritation then sighs. "I guess we're making progress."

"That was from the witch?"

She nods. "Apparently we're doing something right. She also said not to mess with the upcoming events…" (She must be talking about Grey Terminal and-) She freezes then softly looks at Sabo. (This is like Ace all over again damnit!)

Zira looks at her with concern. "Are you ok?"

She slowly nods. "I just need some sleep. If we're here during the events I think we're staying for then we have a long way to go…"

She nods as they get ready to sleep while Rose quietly wonders how to handle the upcoming events with the trio.

TO BE CONTINUED


	31. Chapter 31

**(A/N): Hi guys, this is longer than I usually make it but I guess you can call it the arc'** **s grand finale. This arc contains Dressrosa spoilers! You have been warned! I know some people have had doubts of the time travel arc but as I tell my deviants there is a method to my madness. I might make one more chapter before the reunion just to show how the others are doing but after that I promise no more reunion delay! Enjoy!**

* * *

Days have passed since Garp's visit and Rose has been growing more anxious by the day. She, Luffy and Zira were watching Sabo and Ace sparring with their pipes.

Rose watches the fight anxiously. (If we prevent Sabo from getting taken by his dad he might be safe... But if we leave his dad could easily take him again and this time he might not be able to escape…)

Luffy turns to her in confusion. "Are you ok Rukia? Don't worry they'll be fine."

She snaps out of it then grins at Luffy. "I'm ok Luffy. Who do you think will win?"

"I think Ace will!"

Ace smirks at this as he charges at Sabo but he blocks and they keep clashing with their pipes.

Zira looks at Rose in concern. (She's bottling things up again… She's worried about Sabo…)

Rose softly sighs as she watches the fight. (If I save him from the explosion and help him escape he would be safe from his dad, but what then? He's definitely not strong enough for the ocean yet… I don't think Cora would allow us to bring him to the future either…)

Sabo knocks the pipe out of Ace's hand and hits him on the head. "I win!"

Rose gets up and steps up to them. "Good match. Which one of you wants to take me on now?"

Zira groans in irritation then flies behind Rose and tugs her by the hood of her jacket with her talons and half drags her into the woods.

Rose turns her head in shock as she's trying to keep her footing as they're moving. "Zira, what are you-"

"You're coming with me Rukia! Boys, we'll be right back!"

They nod as they continue practicing while Zira brings her to a clearing in the woods then flies right in front of her. "I can't bear seeing you like this anymore! I know you're worried about Sabo, and you're not leaving until we talk about it right now!"

(Is it that noticeable?!) Rose softly sighs then leans back against a tree behind her, sits down and holds onto her necklace. "Alright, it feels like we're in a repeat of what happened with Ace… I want to stop this from happening as well, but what then? If Sabo stays on the island what's to stop his dad from going after him again? He's not strong enough for what's out there either so I'm just frustrated on how to go about this…"

Zira looks at her softly then lands in front of her. "So you want to save Sabo too?"

She slowly nods. "I can't just sit back and let him die. He's a good kid and if I don't do anything it'll be like admitting to Cora that I was wrong to save Ace in the first place! I don't know what kind of glitch this will cause, but I'm willing to take responsibility for this too. I'll talk to Cora and try to get her to send you back ho-"

She was cut off by a slap in the face by Zira's wing. "DON'T YOU DARE FINISH THAT SENTENCE! Aren't we friends?! Don't think you can just brush me off! You need a friend just like anyone else! I'm staying with you even if we have to fix 100 glitches!"

Rose looks at her in shock before pulling her into a hug. "Thanks…"

She pulls back with a grin. "Anytime, but about your worries. I think it'll be best to worry about that after we get Sabo out of danger. Knowing you I'm sure you'll find a way."

She slowly nods as she grins behind her mask and gets up. "You're right. Let's catch up to the others. Hopefully today's not-"

"AAAAH!"

Both of them widen their eyes in shock as they hear the boys screaming.

Rose groans in frustration. "Why the hell do I bother anymore?! Zira, stay back." Rose grabs her staff and runs to where the boys went.

* * *

"Let go of me!" Sabo struggles from the grip of the guards that Outlook brought while Ace and Luffy are held down by the Bluejam pirates.

"Leave him alone!" Ace tries to get out of the hold but they were too strong.

"Guys!" Rose runs to the scene and jumps into the crowd and faces 20 of the guards at once.

The guards charge at her but she easily dodges her attacks as she hits one after the other.

"Hold it!" Rose freezes to the sound of Bluejam's sword unsheathing as he points it close to Luffy's neck. "Stop the struggle or he dies!"

(Luffy!) She grips onto the staff then drops it as the guards surround her, pull her wrists behind her back and lock them in sea stone cuffs. (What?! They have this?! Ugh, it's already draining me…) She's lightly panting from exhaustion as she keeps herself up while the guards glare at her.

"Don't think we didn't notice your devil fruit when you kidnapped the boy!" One of the guards hits her in the back of the neck and drops her to her knees.

(She's a devil fruit user?!) Ace and Luffy look at her in shock as she glares at Outlook.

"I didn't kidnap Sabo! Just leave him alone! You don't know what you're do-"

She was cut off by a punch in the face by one of the guards but the mask remains in place. "Shut up!"

(Rose!) Sabo looks at her in shock as he struggles while Luffy starts tearing up.

"Give Sabo back to us and leave Rukia alone!"

Outlook scoffs at him. "Give him back? This child is my flesh and blood. It's a child's duty to fulfill their parents' wishes."

Rose grits her teeth in rage. "You don't deserve to be his father!"

She was kicked in the gut by a guard causing her to cough while Outlook glares at her. "And what right do you have to say that? You and your henchmen were the ones that kidnapped him. Was it my fortune you three were after?"

Ace clenches his teeth in rage. "What was that you-" He was cut off to a whack in the head by one of the pirates.

Sabo grits his teeth in rage as he struggles out of their grip. "They didn't kidnap me! I left on my own!"

Outlook glares at him. "I won't hear it! Bluejam, I'll leave the boys to you while the guards take care of the pirate. You're free to do with them as you see fit."

He nods in understanding. "Not to worry sir. I'll be sure that they won't harm your little boy again."

The guards nod as they drag Rose up while Sabo looks at them in distress. "WAIT! I'll go with you willingly!"

Everyone freezes as Outlook turns to him. "What was that?"

"I'll go with you willingly but please don't hurt Ace, Luffy and Rukia! I care more about them than anything!"

"Don't go Sabo!" Luffy says as he starts crying.

"Don't do it Sabo!" Ace says as he struggles. "You wanted to be free don't you?!"

"He's right Sabo. Don't do it!" Rose says as she struggles out of their grip but it's no good while Sabo shakes his head with a soft grin.

"It's ok. I'll be fine."

Outlook nods. "Very well, let's go. Guards, once you're done questioning the pirate you can let her go."

They nod as they half drag her with them to High Town with Outlook and Sabo.

"DON'T GO SABO! RUKIA!" Luffy cries out.

"Forget about us Sabo! Don't just give in!" Ace cries out but they keep walking while Sabo quietly weeps.

Rose looks down at him softly. "Don't worry; we'll make it through this."

Sabo looks up at her in shock as she softly grins at him when he was yanked away by Outlook as they reach the entrance of Goa Kingdom.

Outlook whispers to the head guard as the gate starts opening up. "Make sure she never gets near my son again!"

He nods as they take her away.

Sabo looks at her in shock. "Rose! Where are they taking her?! We had a deal!"

(I thought her name was Rukia. Oh well, I don't care what her name is.) Outlook nods. "Don't worry about it. They're taking her in for questioning about how she got inside then releasing her." He takes Sabo inside while the guards lead her to the prison.

"What do you think you're doing?" The guards freeze at the sound of Outlook's voice but looks around to find him nowhere in sight.

(Hehe.) Rose smirks as she backs away from them while Zira flies right above them, creates an invisible sound bubble around them and creates an exploding sound causing the guards to fall unconscious as their ears bleed.

"Like I said Zira, your devil fruit power's awesome." Rose grins as she picks up the keys, unlocks her sea stone cuffs and cuffs two of the guards together. "Man, I hate those things."

Zira shakes her head. "Then next time don't let them put it on you. You're lucky I followed you!"

"I know, let's get out of here!" They run away until make it to an alley.

"So what's going on now?" Zira asks

"Right now, Sabo should be learning about the fire in Grey Terminal while the boys are being tricked to help Bluejam… For now Ace and Luffy are safe, but we should focus on getting Sabo away."

Zira nods when they feel a strong gust of wind start blowing. "I know this is frustrating, but keep your wind in control Rose!"

"This wind isn't mine it's-" She cuts herself off as she remembers who's here. (Holy crap that's right! Dragon comes here to help the people of Grey Terminal! Wait, he could be our answer!) She grins with excitement. "I think I know where Sabo can go! Luffy's dad's here!"

"What?! He's here to see Luffy?!"

She shakes her head. "He's the leader of the revolutionaries! He's here to save the people from Goa's bonfire. This wind belongs to him! I'm not sure what's up with him. He might have some sort of weather devil fruit or he's just a badass, but anyway if Sabo goes with him he can get away from his dad and live!

Zira blinks in surprise then gulps. "Please tell me he's not as crazy as Garp or Cora…"

She looks at her nervously. "He's a lot more… Stoic than crazy… Anyway, he's our best shot. Those two even meet at some point! Come on, let's get Sabo!" She uses her wind to jump over the wall to High Town while Zira sighs then grins.

"Told you that you'd find a way." She flies over to wall to catch up to Rose.

* * *

(They're gonna kill everyone in Grey Terminal?! I have to tell someone!) Sabo runs around the streets frantically after running away from home again to find someone to help him.

He makes it to the plaza and runs up to an old man who's sitting down while drinking his tea. "Sir, do you know about the fire at Grey Terminal?!"

He looks at him in confusion as he drinks his tea. "The fire at the trash heap? Of course I know about it. Everyone does, what's the big deal?"

Sabo looks at him in terror. (Everyone knows?! Then why isn't anyone saying anything?!)

"THERE'S THE RUNAWAY!" The guards yell as they spot Sabo and chase him around the city.

(I can't get caught! I have to warn Ace, Rose and Luffy!) Sabo keeps running until he felt himself getting picked up in the air by Roses wind causing him and the guards to look at her standing on the rooftop.

"There you are Sabo. Come on, we gotta get out of here!" She flies along with Sabo while the guards try to chase them.

"Rose! Are you ok?!"

"Of course I'm fine. Those guards were nothing with Zira around."

"Let's just say you don't mess with people who are friends with a talking bird." Zira says as she flies next to them.

"Do you guys know about Grey Terminal?!"

Rose nods. "It sickens me… Don't worry; the boys are going to be fine. I'll lower as much of the damage as I can while I'm getting to them. I need you to do me a favor though."

"What is it?"

"I need you to find a man with black hair, a green cloak and a tattoo on his face. His name's Dragon and he should be somewhere in the city! He's able to help get the people to safety and should help you too."

"Me too?"

She nods. "Please trust me. I want you to go with him."

He nods as they land in the outer district. "Ok."

"Good, I'll find you when everyone's safe. One more thing, promise me that you won't do anything dangerous."

"On one condition, I need you to tell me something. Which of their crews are you a part of Ace or Luffy's?"

She widens her eyes in shock then chuckles. "That obvious huh? Ok, I'll tell you. I'm in Luffy's crew."

(Finally, an answer to help me find her!) He nods. "Good to know. I'll go find the man right now!" He runs away to find Dragon while Zira sighs.

"Are you sure you're not telling him too much about you?"

Rose shrugs her shoulders. "He already knows my name and face, and it's not like I told him any of the crew's adventures or the war. Besides, he doesn't know about the comet, so it should be fine." (I'm more concerned about the casualties…) She uses her observation haki to sense Ace and Luffy being tied up in Grey Terminal while Blue Jam is about to detonate the bomb. "Not good! Zira, I need you to get to Grey Terminal and direct the people away from the fire! I'll head over to where the boys are while fighting some of the flames!"

Zira nods as they fly over to Grey Terminal just before the bombs start going off.

* * *

"Dragon! Where are you?!" Sabo searches the streets frantically when he starts to see the flames from Grey Terminal.

(Oh no! It's started! Did Rose manage to get Ace and Luffy out?! I gotta find this guy quick!) He starts running to try to find Dragon when he sees the guards at the gate spot him.

"One of the citizens didn't escape! We gotta evacuate him!" They run after him as he runs frantically to get away.

He manages to lose them in an alley as he pants from exhaustion and starts crying. "*Cough* It stinks… How can they let this happen?!"

He keeps running when exhaustion catches up to him and he falls on all fours in the middle of the street. (Damnit, I can't give up now!)

"What troubles you boy?" Sabo looks up in shock to see a man wearing a green cloak with black hair and a tattoo on his face.

(It's him!) He grabs onto Dragons cloak as tears start falling. "We need your help! Please, help everyone! *Cough* the ones responsible for the fire are the nobles! You gotta believe me!" He clenches onto his cloak harder as his frustration wells up. "There's something wrong with this kingdom! *cough* It stinks worse than the trash heap ever did! The nobles are rotten from the inside! *cough* If I stay here I'll never be free… I WISH I WAS NEVER BORN A NOBLE!"

Dragon looks at him in shock. (So this kingdom has managed to drive someone to say it at last…) He places his hands on his shoulders. "I believe you. I too was born in this country. I will help the people in Grey Terminal though I don't have the power to change this country yet…"

Sabo nods as he starts to drift off. "You'll help?"

"Yes. I promise that I'll never forget your words."

He softly grins in satisfaction as he struggles to stay conscious. "Thank you, please take me with-" He couldn't finish as he passes out from exhaustion causing Dragon to catch him then place him gently on the street.

Ivankov walks up to him. "Dragon, the preparations are ready."

"Good." He gives one last glance to Sabo before heading to the ship with Ivankov without Sabo.

* * *

Ace struggles to get the ropes off of him and Luffy as the flames start engulfing Grey Terminal.

"I think I got it!" He manages to cut the rope with a glass shard freeing him and Luffy.

"It's too hot!" Luffy says as he holds back of crying.

"Quit crying!"

Luffy sucks it up as they run to try to get away from the flames but they can't find the way out.

Ace clenches his pipe in frustration. "Damnit, how do we get out of here?!"

"You don't." The boys turn in shock to see Bluejam's crew surrounding them. The boys try to escape but they're surrounded.

"What are the people who started the fire still doing here?!" Ace asks as he glares at Blue Jam.

"Shut up brat! We're suffering too! Besides, we're pals. We pulled this job off together so we should all die together. However, you never did tell us where the treasure was."

Ace looks at him in shock. "You're worried about that when our lives are in danger?!"

"With that kind of logic you shouldn't be worrying about it either. Tell us and we'll let you live."

Ace grips his pipe in frustration. "Fine…"

Luffy looks at him in shock. "Don't do it Ace! You and Sabo saved that money for years!"

"Sabo will understand! What matters right now is our lives. The treasure is in a giant tree in the woods. There's a hollow in the branches where the stash is."

He smirks in satisfaction. "Good boy, guys grab them."

They grabs the boys while they struggle.

Ace glares at Bluejam. "YOU SAID THAT YOU'D LEAVE US ALONE!"

"Oh? And what if you're lying? You two are coming with us."

"DON'T BE STUPID! WE'LL LOSE OUR CHANCE TO ESCAPE IF WE FIND IT NOW!"

He aims a gun at Ace. "Don't make me angrier than I already am!"

"You can't be as pissed as I am right now!" Rose runs up from behind him and whacks him on the head causing him to drop the gun while the guys surround her.

"Rukia!" The boys are trapped in their holds while the men charge at her.

Bluejam staggers up in rage. "I'm impressed you escaped. You should've ran when you had the chance. Now you'll have to be on my kill list along with the nobles."

She chuckles while fighting off the men. "Then I wouldn't get the pleasure of kicking your ass for hurting the kids."

He chuckles as he picks his gun up. "What good will helping these boys be for you? They allowed themselves to be played by their own 'brother'! He's just like those no good nobles! He thinks of us commoners are trash!"

The boys glare at him while Rose keeps fighting off the pirates.

"Sabo's not like that!" Luffy says.

"Of course he is! He only hung around you to feel superior! Deep down he was pinching his nose and laughing at you!"

Ace's anger keeps increasing at every word. "DON'T YOU DARE SAY ONE MORE WORD!"

"THE ONLY THING SABO WANTED WAS FREEDOM!" Luffy bites the arm of the guy holding him to let go.

"Luffy!" Rose tries to fight her way through but she was surrounded when the pirate swipes at Luffy with his sword and hits him.

"OW!" Luffy holds the cut on his head in pain as the pirate gets ready to stab him.

"LEAVE LUFFY ALONE!" Ace screams and activated his conqueror's haki to knock out the pirates surrounding them except Bluejam.

Rose looks at him in shock. "Ace?!" (That's right! His conqueror's haki awoke here!)

Bluejam looks around in shock. "What the hell did you do?!" He lunges at Ace but Rose blocks him. "How about fighting someone your own size?!"

He grits his teeth in rage as he grabs his sword when Dadan runs from behind him and hits him in the head with the back of her axe to knock him down. "LEAVE THEM ALONE YOU MONSTER!"

"Dadan!" Rose looks at them in shock as she and the bandits storm the scene.

Dogra runs over to Luffy and picks him up. "Are you ok Luffy? Where's Sabo?"

"He's safe! He's not with us!" Luffy says.

"What are you doing here?!" Ace asks.

"Saving your asses that's what!" Dadan says when Bluejam gets up and glares at them while Ace, Rose and the bandits get in a stance.

"What business do ruffians from Mt. Corvo have with them?"

Dadan grips her axe while glaring at him. "My name is Dadan! I'm the boys' guardian! Now then…" She and the bandits run away with Luffy. "WE GOTTA RUN!"

Dogra carries Luffy over his shoulder while running then looks to see Ace and Rose not running. "Come on guys!"

"I won't run!" Ace says as he gets in a stance. "Get going Rukia!"

She shakes her head. "You really think I'd let myself run with you still in danger? Besides, I need a good fight."

The bandits look at them in shock. "WHAT DO YOU GUYS THINK YOU'RE DOING?! HE'S STRONGER THAN YOU TWO!"

(If only you knew…) Rose smirks behind her mask as she gets in a stance. "Don't worry, it'll be fine! I'll make sure Ace gets back safely."

Dadan grits her teeth as she joins them. "Men, take Luffy back."

The guys look at her in shock. "WHAT?!"

"Ace is my responsibility, it's my job to make sure he's safe. Garp would kill me if he knew I allowed a pirate to protect him. NOW GO!"

"YES BOSS!" The bandits run away while Luffy cries out to them but they don't look back.

Dadan walks up to the duo. "Let's get this done so Garp doesn't scold me!"

(Yea right! That's just an excuse. You're a great mother Dadan.) Rose smiles behind the mask as she gets in a stance.

Bluejam glares at the group. "Two women and a child?! How pathetic. Don't get overconfident because you could fight a little."

He charges at the group as they get ready. Rose runs up with her staff and infuses it with haki to block his sword while Ace and Dadan charge at him.

Bluejams grabs his gun from his pocket when Ace uses his pipe to knock it out of his hand while Dadan whacks him on the head with the back of her axe.

Rose infuses her leg with haki to hit him in the gut to send him flying then jumps to slam him to the ground while Ace whack him with his pipe until he was punched in the face.

He staggers up as blood falls on his face. "I refuse to die here…" He picks up his gun and shoots at Rose but she dodges.

All three of them stare at her in shock as she punches him in the nose to send him flying and knocks him out.

"Let's get out of here!" She picks Ace up and tosses him to Dadan then runs with them from behind.

They find an exit that's about to close up and they rush through before the fire can trap them. Once they made it to safety the three of them pant from exhaustion as Zira joins them.

Rose turns to her as she lands on her shoulder. "Is everyone safe Zira?"

She nods.

"Good."

Ace glares at her as he gets out of Dadan's hold and runs in front of her. "I want answers! How did you dodge that bullet?! What's your devil fruit?! And why didn't you use it to stop Sabo from getting taken?!"

Rose sighs. "First question: I was trained to dodge them. Second, I can't tell you my devil fruit, and finally if I used my devil fruit I could've hurt you guys in the process…"

Ace grits his teeth in irritation. "You could've gone and saved him after you escaped! You just like to hide things from everyone! Keep away from us and go back to the ocean traitor!"

Rose widens her eyes in shock while Dadan whacks him on the head. "Ace, apologize right now! She just went and saved you and Luffy!"

Rose raises her hand up. "It's fine Dadan. Truth be told we were planning to leave, so we should get going. Come on Zira."

Zira looks at her in shock. "What?! But-"

"It'll be fine. Thanks for everything Dadan, give my regards to Luffy. Good luck Ace." She walks ahead with Zira into to the woods leaving Ace and Dadan behind.

* * *

Zira groans in frustration as they make their trek through the woods. "I can't believe Ace said that!"

Rose sighs as she takes the mask off. "He wasn't wrong though, I hide things too much…"

"You did it for a reason! Who knows what would've happened if you used your wind in front of Ace and Luffy! Besides, Sabo should be ok now right?!"

Rose uses her observation haki to find Dragon's ship but doesn't sense Sabo there. "That's not good! He's back with his family!"

"What?! Wait, doesn't that mean…"

"Tomorrow Sabo will set out to sea and those Celestial Dragons will…" She groans in frustration as she turns her arms into a twister and twister punches a tree in frustration. "Damnit… *Sigh* that means tomorrow is the only chance to stop it from happening… If we corner him as he's escaping Goa then we can stop him and bring him to Dragon. Follow me."

They make it near the border of Goa Kingdom in the woods and find a safe place to rest. "Sabo's under heavy guard so it's better if we stop him when he escapes again… For now let's rest up."

Zira nods as Rose uses her bag as a makeshift pillow and lays down with her.

"Remember we're doing this together Rose."

She nods with a grin as she pulls her into a hug before drifting to sleep. "Thanks Zira."

* * *

Rose and Zira wake up near the brink of dawn and are getting ready to go.

Rose nods to herself in satisfaction as she keeps the mask off. "Ok, so I pinpointed Dragon's ship. All we have to do is find Sabo before he sails and then bring him to Dragon. I sense him leaving the kingdom now so let's go get him."

Zira nods in agreement as they turn to leave.

"Time freeze!"

Rose and Zira freeze as Cora walks in front of them with a scowl and her arms crossed over her chest. "It looks like neither of you have learned your lesson! I'm really disappointed."

(Crap! Not now!) Rose and Zira try to get out of the hold but they were trapped in the hold as Cora's dark blue eyes glare at them.

"I keep telling you that you can't prevent events from happening you can just alter them! You should consider yourself lucky that you didn't die for real at the war! If you stopped Sabo from dying you might as well consider yourself dead now!" Her scowl changes to a smirk. "However, I'm here to congratulate you! You fixed the glitch! I'm willing to bring you back to your time now!"

She releases her hold on them while lightly panting from exhaustion causing them to look at her in shock.

"You have to be kidding me! Tell us this glitch right now you time witch!" Zira flies up to her but she hits her.

Rose quirks an eyebrow as she gets in between Cora and Zira. (Why did she just release us from the hold? Is there a limit to how long she can hold us?) "Leave Zira alone Cora and don't try to stop us! I can't just let someone who's like a brother to me die!"

She shakes her head in disappointment. "You do realize that I won't let you right? Sabo was meant to die! Don't cause more chaos just to save one brat!"

Rose chuckles causing Cora to look at her in confusion. "What's so funny?"

"I'm just surprised that you're related to Luffy because if you were you would understand how important family is! I'm sure if my Luffy was here he'd do the same thing I'm about to do." She turns her arm into a twister and twister punches her to a tree.

Cora gets up while Rose and Zira are getting away and raises her hand to them. "Time freeze!" She tries to use her ability again but it doesn't freeze them. (Damnit, not being able to do it for 5 minutes after using it is a pain in the ass! Sabo should be sailing away now so it should be fine…) "IF YOU GO TO THE HARBOR THEN CONSIDER YOURSELF TRAPPED IN THIS TIME!"

(So I was right about the limit!) Rose smirks while gaining distance. "SO BE IT! IT WON'T STOP ME FROM SEEING YOUR GRANDSON IN THE FUTURE! LATER WITCH!" (Crap! Sabo's on the water!)

Cora stares at their leaving forms in shock before smirking to herself. "That's what I wanted to hear!"

* * *

Sabo happily sails in the ocean on the stolen fishing boat while the crowd that's expecting the Celestial Dragon looks at him in shock.

Dogra uses his binoculars to recognize him. "SABO! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! DON'T GO OUT THERE!"

Sabo turns to him. "I CAN'T STAY IN THIS COUNTRY OR I'LL BE SWALLOWED BY IT! UNTIL I BECOME STRONG ENOUGH TO FACE THIS COUNTRY I'M NEVER COMING BACK!" (I'm sorry Rose… I have to gain my freedom!) He drifts further out when he sees the Celestial Dragon ship coming. "Wow!"

He looks at the ship in awe until the Celestial Dragon started shooting at the boat to set it on fire.

"Crap! It's starting!" Rose arrives to the scene then turned her body into wind and zipped through the crowd to try to get to Sabo.

(What?! Why are they setting the boat on fire?! ) Sabo tries to put the flames out when the Celestial Dragon aims his launcher at him.

Rose wasn't at the ship yet but she uses her wind to try to push the cannon away from him but it was too strong and got past it to blow up his ship.

(SABO!) Rose gets to the ship and blows away the flames while she's still in her wind form but Sabo's body is gone. The crowd looks at the boat in shock while Dogra starts crying.

"SABO!"

"NO! SABO!" Zira starts tearing up as she flies above the ship. (Damnit, if that witch didn't stall us this wouldn't have happened!)

Tears start streaming down Roses face as she flies up near Zira as a body of wind. (Damnit! I couldn't save him! Wait!) She freezes in shock as she focuses her observation haki and recognizes Sabo's aura.

"Holy crap! Zira follow me!" She flies to the direction of Sabo's aura with Zira following.

* * *

(I know his aura anywhere! How did he end up this far out?! Huh? Someone else is here too!) Rose turns her body back to normal miles off of Dawn Island and searches frantically with Zira following.

Zira pants from exhaustion as she lands on her shoulder. "Will you tell me what's going on already?!"

"Sabo's alive that's what's going on! I can still sense him! SABO, WHERE ARE YOU! ANSWER ME!" She keeps searching until she finds Dragon on a rowboat picking Sabo out of the water.

"Sabo!" She flies over to them and sees that he's unconscious, but still breathing and has a burn on the left side of his face.

(A flying girl with red aura?) Dragon looks at her in confusion. "Who are you?"

"No time for that! Your boat is close by right?! I can take you there faster!" She sends the three of them flying to Dragons ship.

(Ivankov and Kuma are here so I should put the mask on…) She puts the mask on just before they landed on the deck of his ship. The revolutionaries took Sabo to treat him while Kuma walks up to Rose.

"Who exactly are you?"

"I'm a pirate. A time witch sent me here."

Dragon turns to her in utter shock. "You don't mean Cora do you?!"

She nods. "It's a long story. Listen, can you do me a favor and not let Sabo know I'm here? Please have everyone act like you came here alone when you saved him."

He nods as he heads into the infirmary.

Zira looks at her in confusion. "Why don't you want him to know?"

"Because something's not right here… Dragon got Sabo out before we could even get to him. I don't think Sabo said anything all that different to Dragon or he would've taken Sabo away from the city last night…"

"What are you saying?"

"I'm saying there's a possibility that Sabo might have been rescued by Dragon the first time."

"Are you telling me that he could've been alive this whole time?!"

She nods. "It's a theory. If that was true then there has to be some sort of reason why he didn't write to Ace and Luffy let alone not show up to the war… Until I can confirm it I want to see what happens if I'm not here."

Zira nods in understanding as they hear shouting in the infirmary. "DRAGON! HE'S AWAKE!"

Rose and Zira run inside and sit outside of the infirmary to eavesdrop while the conversation is going on.

"Wha-? What's going on?" Sabo sits up in confusion while the others stare at him.

The doctor walks up to him and sits on the chair next to his bed. "You were attacked." He checks his pupils for a concussion. "What's your name?"

He widens his eyes in shock. "I-I don't remember!"

Rose widens her eyes in shock. (AMNESIA?!)

A revolutionary shows him a handkerchief with his name on it. "'Sabo' was written in your possessions. Do you know if that's your name?"

He shrugs his shoulders. "I don't know… I guess that could be my name."

Dragon steps up. "He's a noble child of the Goa kingdom. That much I'm certain."

Another revolutionary nods. "We should send him back to his parents then. I'll go look for-"

"NO!" Sabo yells causing them to look at him in shock as he starts tearing up. "I don't want to go back. Please take me with you! I'll do anything you ask as long as I don't go back!"

Rose places a hand over her mouth. (Sabo…) She runs outside with Zira.

Dragon slowly nods. "Very well, you can stay. Excuse me." He walks on the deck to see Rose staring out at the ocean sadly with Zira patting her head. He walks up beside her. "Would it be alright if he stays with us?"

She nods then softly chuckles. "It's funny, I was actually planning on bringing him to you guys after I stopped the explosion from happening… Irony really is a bitch…"

He nods. "Did Cora send you to this time to prove yourself for my son?"

"Yea, I failed the test though because I tried to stop the explosion from happening." She takes a deep breath then nods. "Would it be ok if I go inside? I might be able to trigger something in his memories."

"Not if I can help it! Time freeze!" Cora jumps onto the boat from her rowboat and freezes Rose and Zira.

Dragon looks at her in shock. "How the hell did you find us?!"

"You future daughter in-law's red aura can be seen for miles with my haki. I'm gonna bring her and the bird back home now before she causes a glitch again!"

(What was that?!) Rose is shocked but doesn't show it causing Cora to laugh.

"Yea, Sabo was alive this whole time and his amnesia happened. I'll explain it while we're travelling. Dragon, not good to see you again."

"Likewise. Young lady, good luck with this witch."

(Wha-) A black vortex surrounds them and takes her, Zira and Cora away from the ship and into a void with multiple timelines showing around them.

The time freeze wears off causing Rose to look around in shock while Zira passes out.

"Zira!" Rose catches her while Cora chuckles.

"Looks like the bird still can't handle the timelines. Welcome to the Time Void. In order for me to time travel I have to come here and find the timeline for the location we were just at. Sadly, I can't take us to different locations here but we can view the timelines in other locations. Viewing all these timelines can be overwhelming at first though which is why you and the pigeon passed out the first time."

Rose looks around in shock then grabs Cora by the cloak and glares at her. "Tell me what happened right now!"

She nods. "You see the glitch was all in Sabo's memories. He was meant to get them back from reading about Ace's death but since you saved him that wasn't possible."

Rose widens her eyes in shock as she lets go of the cloak. "You can't be serious! You know how cruel that is?! What would've happened if-"

"If it wasn't fixed then Sabo would have never gotten his memories back because he focuses too much on his missions and avoids news on pirates. Ace and Luffy then would've never found out that he was alive. It was a miracle Sabo found the article in the first place."

"Then when the world published the article that I was dead he got his memories back?"

"Yup, here I'll show you!" Cora manipulates a timeline to show them Baltigo base a few days after the war took place.

* * *

A 20 year old Sabo was walking through the meeting room with Koala when some of the revolutionaries were rushing in the room to report to Dragon.

"THE WAR HAS ENDED! WHITEBEARD WAS DEFEATED!"

They look at them in shock as they spread the newspapers around while Sabo starts leaving. "The Whitebeards were able to complete their objective but Whitebeard died. The list of casualties are him and a girl called Catone Rose!"

Sabo freezes in shock when he heard her name. (Catone Rose? "I don't care if you guys are from the royal family or Celestial Dragons. I'm still gonna kick your asses for beating up the kid.") He rushes to grab an article while the others are talking amongst themselves.

"She's not even a Whitebeard, but she invaded the war with her wind! Aokiji stopped at nothing to kill her because she's from another world!"

"The World Government doesn't like anything they don't understand. The poor outsider chose the wrong fight…"

Sabo starts hyperventilating as he stares at her picture and the scene of Rose telling the boys her dream by the cliff appears in his head. ("I'm gonna understand everything about this world and prove that there's more than one out there. I'll show the world that they can't keep me down by what they call me, and once I return to my crew I'm never gonna hide a thing from them again!")

He starts openly sobbing as pictures of Rose, Ace and Luffy start appearing in his head and he remembers drinking the sake cups with Ace and Luffy.

Koala looks at him in concern. "Sabo are you ok?"

He ignores her as he keeps tearing up while more and more scenes appear in his head. ("Don't worry about me Sabo, just having someone else know my real name makes me feel better.")

He screams as he throws the newspaper in the air and starts collapsing while the others rush to him. (I remember now! I have two brothers! And Rose was my best friend! She wasn't some outsider or demon, she was a free spirit! A true pirate!) He falls unconscious while tears keep streaming down his face and the revolutionaries take him to the infirmary.

* * *

Tears start streaming down Roses face as she watched the scene. "Sabo…" (If this was his reaction then how did the others react to the article?! Luffy…)

Cora pats her on the head. "Sorry, but this had to be done. I'm impressed though you were not only willing to stay in that time to save someone close to Luffy, but you stood up to me. I definitely approve of you."

She shakes her hand off of her. "I don't care about that! If Sabo's memories were like that then why didn't you just tell me?! I could've gone to Baltigo and showed him Luffy's picture!"

"If I did that then other glitches could've sprouted. Since you took Ace's place in his death I felt this was the best course of action to fix the time stream. Besides, where's the fun in just telling you?"

She tries to punch her but she dodges. "Easy, easy. If you knock me out you could be stuck in this void."

She sighs. "Then can we go back now?"

"In a bit, but I want to show you something nice first. You see, you being from another world inspired me to experiment on my abilities and I found out something amazing. My ability can not only show me the timelines of this world but in other worlds too!"

Rose looks at her in shock then glares at her. "You mean you can force me back to my world?"

She shakes her head. "Nope, I can only do that with this world and if we're actually at that location. Going to the other worlds is out of my jurisdiction, so like in different locations in this world we can only view their timelines here. You were growing curious about how your foster family was doing after you left right? Well I'll show you!"

She shows a timeline from Roses world showing Marie and Laura working at a pizza restaurant.

(Is that the place I used to work at?!) Rose watches closely as the girls are working.

* * *

One blond haired blue eyed girl wearing a shirt that says "Laura" on it is struggling to work the register while her identical twin sister who's wearing a shirt that says "Marie" was struggling to take a pizza pie out of the oven.

Marie tries to take the pizza out with the peel but she pulls it out too hard causing it to be sent flying to the other side of the restaurant causing the customers to duck as it hits the wall.

"MARIE! How many times are you going to mess it up?!" The owner of the restaurant: a skinny woman with bobbed reddish-brown hair, brown eyes, pale skin in her late 40's in a t-shirt and jeans walks up to her angrily and takes the pizza peel from her.

"Sorry Naomi…"

"Just go clean the kitchen or something. Laura, are you-" She cuts herself off when she sees the receipt paper printing out a million orders not placed. "WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO?!"

"I don't know! I pressed something and the paper just kept coming out!"

She rushes over to the register and stopped it from printing out receipts. "Laura, go clean up your sister's mess then get in the back with Marie for clean-up duty until the place is spotless!"

They run to their work while Naomi sighed and threw away the used receipt. "Man, I miss Rose…"

The door opens to Bobby as he walks inside and walks up to Naomi. "Mind if I get 2 plain slices to go?"

She nods as she sees Laura heading into the kitchen. "Any news on the search for Rose?"

He shakes his head. "It's like Rose just up and vanished… It doesn't surprise me that she doesn't want to be found with the foster family she had though... All that time chasing her around the city and she never once mentioned her foster family… If she had just said something she could've been placed somewhere else!"

She sighs as she gets the slices and places them in a box. "She didn't want to risk getting placed somewhere worse… At least Rick was arrested for marijuana possession during the search and is in prison now…"

He nods in agreement. "How are the twins holding up?"

She groans as she rings up the register. "The worst employees I ever had, but no one else will take them… I don't have the heart to fire them, but these two combined don't even match Rose…" She softly chuckles. "You know it's funny, the night she disappeared I saw a comet flying in the sky. Wouldn't surprise me if it was that other world comet she always went on about."

He nods with a soft chuckle. "If she actually did succeed in getting out of this world then I hope she's happy." He pays for the pizza when they hear crashes and crying from the kitchen.

"Aaah! There's flour all over us!" Laura cries.

"Like we weren't dirty enough!" Marie cries.

Naomi groans as she takes the money from him. "God give me strength! If you find anything new on Rose please let me know!"

He nods as he takes the pizza and leaves while hearing Naomi go into the kitchen to scold the girls.

* * *

Rose watched the scene in shock. (I knew that my existence wouldn't be erased if I left but for Bobby to get the cops to start a search… Those two actually having a job though…) She looks at the timeline conflicted. "I don't know if I should be laughing or crying. I feel bad for Naomi, but those two working is just…" Laughter won as she started laughing. "Hahaha, that's nuts! So Rick was arrested huh? I kind of feel sorry for him."

Cora looks at the timeline sadly. "I'm just impressed you dealt with them for so long."

She shrugs her shoulders. "There are worse places, and I had Naomi and Bobby so it wasn't too bad. Besides, if they weren't so mean I wouldn't have been so resolved to leave my world." Her smile fades as she looks at her nervously. "Uh Cora, would it be alright if I see my crew's reactions to the letter and the article?"

She shakes her head with a soft look on her face. "Trust me, it would only make you feel more guilty about what happened. Let's just say they miss you and they forgive you for not telling them the truth. I saw the reunion between you guys and trust me you won't regret going back."

Rose widens her eyes at this then nods with a soft grin. "Thank you."

She nods as she pulls up the timeline where they were at before. "Here we go!" They left the time void and were right above the ocean a few miles off of Dawn Island.

Cora sweat drops in embarrassment. "Oops, forgot we were on a boat before time travelling…"

Rose twitches an eyebrow in irritation. "You-" They start falling when Rose uses her wind to send the group flying and back on the island's cliff. She sighs then chuckles. "I take it back, you're definitely Luffy's grandma. So we're back in our time now?"

She nods. "Yup, you're where you and the bird belong. About Sabo, you guys will see him again in Dressrosa. He'll come find you guys so there's no point in trying to find him."

She nods in understanding as she places Zira on the ground then goes up to her and hugs her. "Thank you for the trip! I had fun!"

She blinks in surprise before grinning and hugging her back. "No problem. You know, I'm starting to like you. I can give you another trip if you want."

She immediately pulls away while raising her hands defensively. "No thanks! I'm good! Zira and I should get going!" (I better go before she actually does it!) She picks Zira up then starts running down the mountain. "Bye granny!"

Cora blinks in surprise then chuckles. "'Granny' huh? Well, better than witch." She creates another time vortex and jumps in to return to the time void.

* * *

Zira wakes up in Roses arms then looks up at her in shock. "Rose, are you ok?! Where's the witch?!" She looks around to see them close to Fushia village.

Rose grins at her behind the mask. "Don't worry about it Zira. Cora brought us back, she showed me some things, and you know the best part? Sabo's alive! That means Luffy has both of his brothers now!"

She chuckles as she gets onto Roses shoulder. "Glad to see you enjoyed yourself."

She nods as they make it into Fushia village to see Shanks and Makino together. "Hey guys!"

Shanks waves at her when Makino looks at her in shock. "R-rukia?!" She runs up to hug her while Shanks looks at her in confusion.

"Rukia?"

She nods. "Long story, Luffy's grandma sent us back 11 years in the past, I met Luffy and his brothers, fought Garp, tried to prevent Sabo's accident but failed yet found out he's alive, and then granny sent us back saying that I'm good enough to be with Luffy."

Shanks looks at her in utter shock as he tries to process her adventure. (All of that from a hike up the mountain…) "I'm never letting you go off on your own again until you're back at Sabaody..."

"WHO SAID SHE WAS ALONE JERK?! I'VE HAD ENOUGH OF PEOPLE WRITING ME OFF!" Zira flies off her shoulder and charges at him while he tries to swat her and Rose and Makino laugh.

Makino recovers and turns to her with a grin. "So you passed her test? That's wonderful, but why are you still wearing the mask?"

"I'LL FREAKING TELL YOU WHY!" Everyone turns in shock to see a pissed off Dadan approaching them. "TAKE OFF THE MASK ROSE!"

Rose widens her eyes in shock before sighing and taking the mask off. "I didn't think you guys would put it together…"

Makino looks at her in shock. "Wait a minute! You're Catone Rose?!"

She nods. "Yea, I almost died at the war but Shanks and the Whitebeards saved me… Sorry for-"

She's cut off when Dadan pulls her into a hug and starts tearing. "You idiot! Do you have any idea how we felt when we figured it out! We thought you died! Does Luffy know?!"

She looks at her in shock then slowly shakes her head. "No… I know there's no excuse but when the crew reunites I'll be there to see them."

Dadan nods in approval as she pulls away. "Good! I'll be on your side just as I will for Ace and Luffy!"

She nods. "Thanks."

Shanks grins at them as he and Zira stop fighting when Yasopp runs up to them. "SHANKS, GARP'S HERE!"

"WHAT?!" They look to see Garp running in to them furiously.

"Just because I retired from being a marine doesn't mean you pirates can-" He cuts himself off when he sees Rose and trips over himself. "What the hell? YOU'RE ALIVE?!"

She nods as she sheepishly rubs the back of her head. "Yea, and I was Rukia too."

His mouth falls to the ground in shock before laughing. "Hahaha! You outsiders really are something! So it was Luffy you fell in love with! Since you passed Cora's test I'm ok with you!"

He pats her on the back causing her to chuckle nervously. "Thanks. So you retired from the marines?"

"Yup, after the war I didn't want to risk going through one of them being put on execution again, so I left before that chance happened. I didn't expect you to be Rukia though! I'll keep quiet about you and the Red Hair pirates being here, but just this once!"

Shanks chuckles as he pumps his fist in the air. "IN THAT CASE LET'S PARTY TO CELEBRATE ROSES RETURN!"

"YEA!" The group parties the day away while Rose tells them her time travelling adventures with the ASL trio.

TO BE CONTINUED


	32. Chapter 32

Today is the last day before the crew reunites and Luffy and Ace aren't wasting a minute of it as they continue training. Luffy's clothes changed to a red button down cardigan open to his non scarred chest, a yellow sash while keeping his shorts the same and waiting to get his hat tomorrow. Ace changed his clothes to black pants with Whitebeard's symbol on the belt buckle and his dagger hanging from the belt, an unzipped black coat, and a black cowboy hat with his beads and faces on the brim. Both boys are currently sparring one last time before the sun starts to set.

"Keep it up Luffy!" Ace grins as the boys keep exchanging haki infused punches.

Luffy grins as he blocks Ace's punches then goes into second gear. "I'm not finished Ace!" He zips past him and a few feet away while storing heat in his right fist. "Gum Gum Red Hawk!"

"Fire Hawk!" He fuses his fist with haki and fire and collides with Luffy's fist. Both of them grin in satisfaction as they drop the fists then high five each other with their others hands.

Ace nods in approval with a smirk. "These two years have really paid off for you Luffy. The New World won't know what hit them."

He nods while showing off his toothy grin. "Shishishi! I'm just excited to see the crew again! I'm sure everyone will-" He cuts himself off as his smile starts to falter. (Right, not everyone will be there…) He shakes his head then grins. "I'm gonna get some food." He turns and heads to the jungle while Ace watches his leaving figure.

He sighs as he runs a hand through his hair. (Even after these two years he still misses Rose…) He goes into a different direction to fight some animals.

* * *

Luffy sits down on the coast while eating a piece of meat and watches the sun set in a cloudless sky. (Not a cloud out. Just how Rose liked it.) He chuckles as the sun finishes setting and the stars start coming out.

He finishes his food then grins at the open sky while remembering when Rose showed him the stars for the first time. ("The best part of my power is that I can see the stars without the clouds blocking the view anymore!" I get why she liked stars so much. They're pretty relaxing…)

He lays down on his back with his hands behind his head and stares at the sky. "… You there Rose? You were right like always. Rayleigh's training really got me stronger. This whole other world stuff is awesome! I can't believe you held out on us! When we meet again I want to know everything about your world and you better not leave anything out this time! Shishishi!" He laughs then softly grins. "Is it weird to hope that you're gonna keep your promise?" He was met with silence for a minute then sighs as he sits up with a frown.

"Right, you can't respond…" He takes out Roses letter and the picture of the crew from his pocket and reads the last line of the letter.

 **I love you and I promise to be there when we all meet.**

He chuckles then shakes his head with a soft grin. "It's ok that you can't make it… You're still one of us…" He shifts his attention to the photo of the crew and focuses on his and Roses spot in the picture. ("Hey guys, how about a picture to commemorate us being here?" "I gotta run an errand. I'll catch up with you guys later." "Do you understand now that you're free to fall in love with whoever you want even though we kissed?") He freezes as tears start streaming down his face causing him to wipe them quickly before they could hit the picture then stares at it sadly.

"… I'm sorry Rose. You held everything in at Sabaody and I couldn't do anything. Asking you all those questions about couples must not have been easy either…" He sighs, places the letter and photo back in his pocket then hugs his knees while listening to Ace's approaching footsteps.

Ace casually grins as he walks up to him. "Knew I'd find you here Lu! Out looking at stars again?"

He slowly nods then looks up while Ace sits next to him and softly chuckles. "You know, I'm surprised you didn't camp out here or something after coming here almost every night."

Luffy shrugs his shoulders causing Ace to bite his lip. (He's been taking this harder than when Sabo died… Is he really ready?) "You know Luffy, if you're not ready to see your crew yet I'm sure they'd understand."

He shakes his head. "No way! I can't be king of the pirates by sitting around here my whole life! If Rose was here she'd punch me in the nose if I thought of doing that!"

He chuckles at that. "Wouldn't want that… Hey Luffy, I've been curious about something. Did you ever see Rukia during your travels?"

He blinks in surprise at the change of subject. "Rukia? You mean that pirate girl we played with when we were kids?"

Ace nods causing Luffy to shake his head. "Nope, haven't seen her since Grey Terminal…" He softly chuckles. "You know it's weird. Rose sort of reminded me of her. I wonder where she went. I'd love to see her and Zira again. That crazy bird was hilarious!"

He nods with a grin. ("Go back to the ocean traitor!") His smile starts to fade as he remembers his last words to her. "I'd like to see her again too..." (I owe her an apology for what I said… Luffy has a point though. Even though I only met Rose there was something about her that reminded me of Rukia. And that screech that attacked me, Gramps and Sengoku on the platform is something Zira would-) He quickly shakes his head. (What am I thinking?! There's no way Rose and Rukia could be the same person Rose is too young! And unless they're both from the same world I doubt they're related.)

Luffy looks at him in confusion. "You ok Ace? Did you eat some rotten fruit again?"

Ace hits him on the head. "You're the one that ate rotten fruit here!" He chuckles as he gets up. "You're the only one who could relate our conversation to food. Anyway, we should get some rest. We have a big day tomorrow."

He nods as he gets up then stares at the sky with a soft look. "Ace?"

"Yea?"

"… Do you think it's weird to hope that Rose is gonna show up tomorrow?"

He looks at him softly then ruffles his hair with a grin. "Not weird at all Lu."

He nods with a toothy grin. "Thanks, then let's get some sleep!"

He nods as they head back to their camp site to get ready for the reunion.

* * *

Rose is staring at herself in the mirror in her room on the Red Force nervously. (How the hell am I going to show the others I'm alive?! Thankfully besides the haircut my body isn't all that different so they can easily recognize me. Good thing the time skip didn't cause me to gain any curves and I still have my small che-) She frantically shakes her head with a small blush on her face. (Now's not the time to get sidetracked about my body! I gotta try rehearsing again!)

She sighs and stares at the mirror with a nervous smile then waves. "Hi guys, I'm back from the dead." She shakes her head then gives the mirror a sweet grin. "Everyone! It's so great to see you again!" She blinks in confusion. "What? You thought I was dead? Funny story, I was saved by Shanks and the Whitebeards then Shanks kept me hidden to protect me while training me in haki! Isn't that-!"

She freezes then groans while rubbing her temples then faces the mirror with a soft look on her face. "Hi guys, I'm alive… I know you're pissed that I never said anything about who I was, and for that I'm really sorry. If it's ok with you I'd like for us to try again. I promise that I'll tell you everything about me and…" She groans and rubs her temples in frustration. "Damnit, all of those are no good…"

Shanks and Zira softly watch her rehearsing from the doorway as she sighs.

"Maybe I should just sneak onboard the ship in a barrel then pop out when we're out of Sabaody…"

Shanks stares at her in shock for a moment before falling on his knees from laughing along with Zira. "BWAHAHAHA! What I wouldn't give to see their reactions if you actually did that!"

She turns to her audience in shock then groans in embarrassment. "Sorry to disappoint, but that would just make things worse and Luffy would see right through that with his haki… We'll be there by tomorrow morning right?"

He nods with a grin as he finishes laughing and gets up. "Yup, by tomorrow morning we should see the island. Still nervous about seeing them huh?"

She slowly nods. "I can beat up as many marines and enemy pirates as I want without a problem, but when it comes to those 9 I just freeze up…"

Shanks walks up to her and pats her on the head. "Don't worry about it so much. If I know Luffy he'll party like there's no tomorrow when he finds out you're alive. You said you know about the crew's adventures right? Is there anything special about the reunion that can be a good time for you to show up?"

Rose strokes her chin in thought. "Well, the crew is scattered all over the island at first, they get chased by the marines, and there's the impostors-"

Zira flies up to her. "Whoa, whoa wait! 'Impostors?'"

She nods. "Yea, a bunch of low class pirates imitate Luffy and the crew to try to recruit high bounty captains to work under them. Funny thing is they take Luffy to their meeting to punish him for knocking them out without realizing that it's him. Hehe, you should see the look on their faces when they saw that it was him." (Since everyone thinks I died at the war I shouldn't get an impostor. Man, that would've been weird. Glad I dodged that bullet.)

Shanks chuckles. "That kid always gets himself in the weirdest messes. Hey, you should go to that meeting!"

She quirks an eyebrow at the idea causing him to raise his arm defensively. "Hear me out. You sneak into the meeting, and when Luffy arrives you storm in during the battle! You two should talk one on one at least before reuniting with the crew."

(He's right that Luffy deserves an explanation… It'll be a little harder to talk to him alone but I have to…) She sighs then nods. "Ok. I think that's a good idea. I still have no idea on what to say though…"

He chuckles. "Relax, the right words will come when the time's right. Luffy's not really the type for words anyway, so I suggest just going for the kiss!"

She whacks him on the head with a blush on her face then sighs and chuckles. "Hehe, thanks Shanks. I needed this talk."

He grins as he starts leaving then stops at the doorway before giving her a goofy grin and the peace sign. "Anything for Luffy's future pirate queen! Hahaha!" He keeps laughing as he runs to dodge the flying pillow courtesy of Rose.

She runs a hand through her hair while sighing. "Geez, you try being serious with the guy and he fools around... Hehe, he really is like Luffy. I'm gonna miss these guys."

Zira nods in agreement as she flies onto the bed. "They were nice. I can't wait to meet your crew though! The reindeer looks like a lot of fun!"

She nods with a grin as she takes out the picture of the crew and smiles at it before placing it next to Zira. "You two are gonna be great friends. Fair warning, whenever you compliment him he'll say some harsh things but gets in a happy dance to show his real emotions."

She looks at her in confusion. "A happy dance?"

She eagerly nods. "Yea, like if you say that he's a great doctor or that he's cute he would say something like-" She points to her angrily. "Shut up asshole! Saying something like that won't make you my friend!" She starts getting into a happy dance while giggling. "Nope, that compliment won't make me happy at all stupid! Heehee!"

Zira looks at her in shock before laughing. "HAHAHA! Are you serious?! That's crazy! Do some of the others!"

She nods as she stops dancing. "Alright, who next? Oh! Zoro's always grumpy and sleeps a lot but when one of us is in danger you can count on him." She grabs her staff then lays it next to her before laying down on the floor with her hands behind her head then pretends to nap while snoring. She wakes up while twitching her eyebrow in irritation then glares. "Shut up ero-cook! I'm trying to sleep here! You wanna fight?!" She picks her staff up and gets her twin blades out then gets in a stance causing Zira to laugh.

"That was really good! Who's ero-cook?"

She softens her expression as she sheathes her blades. "That's Sanji. He's the blondie in the suit."

She glances at the photo and finds him. "What's he like?"

"He's pretty cool, but also a flirt. He's gonna be a bit… _Sensitive_ to women for a bit because of where he trained during these past two years. Don't ask."

She slowly nods. "Can you try imitating him?"

She tilts her head in thought then nods as she cups her hands to pretend that she's smoking. She takes her hands away while pretending she's blowing away smoke. "Luffy had better not have eaten the meat again. As long as there's enough food for the ladies then the men can just have bread." She twirls to pretend to love tornado. "Nami-swaan! Robin-chwaan! Rose-chwaan here are your snacks!" She goes down on one knee in front of Zira while pretending to hold a tray of sweets with one hand and placing her other hand on her chest while bowing. "Only the best treats for the best beauties before me!"

Zira widens her eyes in shock before bursting out laughing. "Bwahahaha! Oh my god! I'm gonna die! Does he really do that?!"

She nods as she gets up. "Yup, he's really funny and nice."

"Won't Luffy get jealous?"

Her smile fades at the thought. "You know, I never thought about that… Well, as long as we tell the others we're a couple it should be fine. Sanji will be a little upset, but the mermaids on Fishman Island will cheer him up."

She nods then finds Usopp in the picture. "What about Usopp?! Can you do him?!"

She nods as she pounds her chest boastfully. "I'm captain Usopp! No enemy is tough enough to face me! I have 8000 followers under my command, so don't mess with me!"

She giggles. "He seems pretty funny."

"If you think that's funny here's Franky!" She bends her torso forward while pounding the floor. "Did someone just say my name?! You better watch out because the most SUPER shipwright is here to stay!" She pushes her arms together in Franky's signature pose. "AOW! I'm your SUPER big bro Fraaanky!"

Zira rolls off the bed from laughing. "Hahahaha! Oh man! I love these guys already! What about the girls?"

"I'll try Nami…" She tilts her head in thought then shows her three fingers. "There are only three things I care about: money, tangerines and my friends!" She changes and shows beli in her eyes. "Treasure! Come on guys, let's get rich!" She changes her facial expression to a smirk. "Feel free to borrow my money… For a 300% interest! Hahaha!"

She looks at her in shock. "She seems pretty fierce."

"Yup, she's like my big sister. She can be pretty scary when she's mad though so be careful."

She nods in understanding. "Gotcha, how about the black haired woman? Her name's Robin right?"

Rose nods then shivers. "I have a feeling that if I imitate her it'll come back to bite me so let's skip her. There's not a thing on the ship that she doesn't know about. As you already know she's the one who figured me out and even covered for me, so I could be the one to tell them the truth when I was ready. She's very motherly but if you cross her you'll have hell to pay. Let's just stick with that."

Zira sweat drops in fear. (Is she that scary? She helped Rose so I'm sure she's ok…) She slowly nods. "Ok. What about the skeleton?"

"Oh, you're gonna love Brook!" She clears her throat then laughs the way Brook does. "Yohohoho! My, a talking bird! How amazing!" She goes up and pets her. "Your soft feathers tickle my skin! Oh wait, I don't have any skin! Yohohoho! Skull joke!"

She giggles at the skull joke. "Luffy's the last one up right?"

She nods as she gives her a toothy grin. "Shishisi! Hey guys, do you want to play tag while we're waiting for dinner?! I'm booored! Sanji, let's eat!" She raises her fists in the air. "Just you guys wait! Once we conquer the New World I'm gonna be the king of the pirates!"

Zira giggles. "I can't wait to see him all grown up."

She sighs as she stares out at the window with a soft grin. "You and me both." (I just hope things turn out well…)

Zira flies back onto the bed. "He's gonna be in for the surprise of his life that's for sure. Let's get some sleep."

She nods as she lays on the bed next to Zira. "Yup, tomorrow's gonna be nuts. Night Zira."

"Good night Rose."

* * *

 _Rose flies onto the deck of the Sunny. "Hey guys! I'm- Huh? Where is everyone?"_

 _She looks around to find herself the only one on the ship. "Franky's not even here. Did something happen?"_

 _"They must've heard that you were coming and decided to jump ship." She freezes in shock at the sound of Marie's voice._

 _(What?! They can't be here! I must've imagined it. The others are probably getting supplies so I'll go find them.) She shakes her head and starts walking to get off the ship when she felt a gloved hand on her shoulder._

 _Rick smirks at her shock as he turns her around. "Now that's rude. Didn't your crazy parents teach you to look at people when they're talking to you?!" He punches her in the gut causing her to fall to her knees to catch her breath while he grabs both of her wrists while Marie and Laura start approaching them._

 _Rose looks at them in shock as she tries to get out of his grip, but it's no good as her energy is starting to fade from the gloves. "Those gloves have sea stone in the knuckles?! How did you guys get here?!"_

 _Laura snickers as she and Marie step up to them. "Does it matter? We're here to bring you back. Did you honestly think you'd get away with ruining our lives so that you can go play pirate?"_

 _Rose clenches her teeth as she infuses her leg with haki and kicks him in the side, but he keeps a grip on her as he kicks her gut to knock the air out of her while Marie locks one of her wrists in a sea stone cuff._

 _"You're even more of a savage now than before!" Rick says as he forces her up as she struggles while Marie puts the cuff on her other wrist._

 _"Not as much of a savage as you are Rick." Rose kicks Marie away then bites Ricks hands causing him to let go as she rips the gloves off of him, spits them out then glares at them as she gets in a stance. She lightly pants in exhaustion from the cuffs while getting ready to fight as the three of them surround her. "Do you honestly think I would just let you take me? I have a place here!"_

 _"What? With the group of people that you've been tricking this whole time?" Marie says as she and Laura pounce on her but she punches them out, but Rick runs in from behind and punches her to the ground._

 _Rick smirks as Rose struggles to get up. "Just face it. You knew you never had a place here. That's why you never told them the truth."_

 _Laura keeps her smirk as she and Marie pick her up by the arms. "Once an outcast always an outcast. But bringing you back can give us a good sum of cash after we sell you off to the government for your power."_

 _"Who the hell are you guys?" All four of them look in shock to see a confused Luffy on the deck. Once he saw Rose his expression immediately changed to shock. "R-rose?!"_

 _Rose looks at him nervously. "Hi Lu-" She was slapped in the face by Rick._

 _"Shut up!" He turns to Luffy with a friendly grin while not noticing Luffy walking up to him with clenched fists. "Sorry for the trouble my foster child has caused. I'm going to take her back so that she doesn't mess with your life any-"_

 _He was cut off by a punch in the face by Luffy. "WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?! Rose, I'm gonna kick his ass so hang tight!"_

 _She blinks in shock before slowly nodding. "O-ok…"_

 _Rick looks at them in utter shock as he staggers up. "Hold on! I'm doing you a favor here! That crazy girl is nothing but trouble! She tricked you guys into thinking that she's from this world right?!"_

 _"I DON'T CARE ABOUT THAT! ROSE IS MY PIRATE QUEEN YOU JACKASS!"_ _He pummels Rick while the girls are frozen in shock and a blush creeps onto Rose's face._

 _(That guy says that kind of stuff too easily… That's one of the things I love about him.) Rose infuses her legs in haki and kicks the girls in the gut to get them off of her then steps back and glares at them. "Just give up already! Even with the cuffs I'm not going down so easily!"_

 _Laura clenches her teeth in irritation as she recovers. "I've had enough of this! I'm gonna take care of her myself!" Laura takes out a pocket knife from her pocket and charges at Rose when a hand grew on Laura's arms and pinned them behind her back causing her to drop the knife._

 _"WHAT THE-" More hands grew on her and Marie until they were pinned uncomfortably on the ground._

 _"My, my. Looks like we have some unwanted guests onboard." The girls look in shock to see Robin wearing a calm grin on her pale face and her arms crossed over her chest with Zira on her shoulder._

 _"There you are Rose! I know you were excited to come back but at least wait for me. Sit down so I can pick the cuffs off." Zira flies off of her shoulder in front of Rose as she sits down then works on picking the cuffs while the twins look at Zira in shock._

 _Marie struggles frantically. "WHY IS THAT BIRD TALKING?! AND WHAT'S WITH THESE HANDS?! RELEASE US RIGHT NOW YOU MONSTERS!"_

 _"Now, now that's no way for ladies to be talking. Then again, it's hard to consider you women after what you did to Rose-chan."_

 _They look to see Sanji walking up behind them along with Ace, Zoro, Nami, Chopper, Franky, Brook and Usopp on the deck. The group surrounds them while Luffy gave Rick an uppercut to send him flying and landed in front of the girls all beaten up._

 _Zira finishes picking the cuffs then steps away from them to pant from exhaustion._

 _"Thanks Zira." Rose rubs her wrists while Nami and Chopper run up to her and help her up._

 _"You ok Rose?" Chopper asks._

 _"Yea, I'm ok…" She looks to see the guys walking up to her foster family while furiously glaring at them._

 _Usopp starts getting his slingshot ready. "What should we do with them?"_

 _Franky cracks his knuckles. "We'll kick them off the ship after we show them what happens when they mess with one of us."_

 _Ace lights his right hand on fire. "I don't mind giving them a good roast."_

 _"I just wish Luffy allowed us to take a crack at the shitty old man before pummeling him." Sanji says as he smokes his cigarette while glaring at them._

 _The three of them start shivering in fear then Marie clenches her teeth in frustration. "Why are you guys defending her?! She made you guys think she was one of you when the whole time she knew she was just an out-" She was cut off with Zoro pointing a sword to her face causing her to pale._

 _"Shut your mouth if you know what's good for you!"_

 _Rose walks in front of them and touches the sword indicating him to lower it. "It's ok guys. They're my problem. Robin, can you take the holds off of them please?"_

 _Robin nods as she cancels her hold on Marie and Laura then they huddle together with their dad._

 _Rose glares at them as she uses her wind to lift them in the air "There's something I've been wanting to say to you guys." Rose turns her arm into a twister then softens her expression to a grin causing them to look at her in shock. "Thanks for being assholes. You guys helped motivate me to prove that the Timore Comet's real. And I found my place because of it." She twister punched them to send them flying to the opposite side of the island and knocked unconscious._

 _She turns her arm back to normal then turns to the others nervously. "… Hi guys…" She scratches the back of her head nervously. "Thank you for helping me deal with them… *Sigh* I know that I messed things up and I'm really-"_

 _She was cut off when a hand stretched to grab hers and pulled her into Luffy's embrace. She blinked in shock then looked up to see Luffy crying while holding her close._

 _"Rose you idiot! Do you think we care about that?! I can't believe you're alive! What happened to you?! Are you ok?! Why didn't you-" Luffy was cut off when Ace places a hand on his shoulder._

 _"I know you're excited Lu, but one question at a time. First off, how did you survive?"_

 _Rose nods as she doesn't bother trying to get out of Luffy's hold. "Aokiji missed my vitals and your crewmates got me treated. By the time I woke up the 2 year message was sent out."_

 _He nods when Nami steps up to them. "Then what about these?" She pulled out her letter along with everyone else causing Rose to look at them in shock._

 _"You guys kept those?!"_

 _Usopp nods. "Of course we did! Half of that stuff was hard to believe, but then again with you nothing's impossible."_

 _Rose sighs. "Every word in them is true… I'm sorry I didn't tell you guys in person. It was wrong of me to keep you in the dark for so long. And I'm so sorry for-"_

 _Luffy turns her around in his hug so that he's looking her in the eye. "How many times are you gonna apologize already?! Didn't you hear me say that it doesn't matter?!"_

 _"Y-yea but-"_

 _"No buts! You're not an outsider! You're a part of the crew! A-and I'm so glad you're alive!" He starts tearing up again causing Rose to wrap her arms around him while holding back from crying._

 _"Thank you. I'm really glad to be back."_

 _The rest of the crew joins in the hug then pulls back while Luffy wipes away his tears. "Guys… LET'S SET SAIL FOR THE NEW WORLD!"_

 _"YEA!"_

 _Everyone starts getting ready to leave when Zira flies onto Roses shoulder._

 _"Glad you're back Rose?"_

 _She nods with a grin. "Yea."_

 _"Good, then let's do this for real! WAKE UP ROSE!"_

* * *

"AAAH!" Rose flies off the bed screaming while covering her ears from Zira screeching in her ear then lands face first on the floor. She rubs her face while sitting up. "Ouch… Seriously Zira?!"

"Sorry, but you weren't waking up and the island's coming into view!"

"WHAT?!" Rose flew into the bathroom to get herself ready then flew out with Zira to get on the deck with the crew except Yasopp and Angela to see Sabaody Archipelago in their sights.

Rose looks at the island with excitement. (I'M BACK GUYS! JUST HANG ON LUFFY!)

Shanks notices her excitement then chuckles. "Hehe, look at you. Just last night you were really nervous and now you're pumped!"

She nods. "I had a good dream last night and I'm done waiting!"

Ben softly laughs at the excitement. "Glad to hear that. This is as far as we can take you or the marines will be onto us."

She nods in understanding. "This is close enough. Zira and I can take the clouds from here."

"Hang on! Can I come too?!" Shanks asks causing everyone to look at him in confusion.

"Why do you want to go?" Lucky Roo asks.

"It's not every day I can see Rayleigh. Besides, if it gets as crazy as Rose says then I don't mind backing them up."

Rose nods. "Thanks for the help. Wait, Yasopp should come with us too to see Usopp. Where is he anyway?"

Lucky Roo points to the lower deck. "Angela found out that he was trying to hide his flu from her so now he's trapped in the infirmary."

"LET ME OUT ANGELA! I WANNA GO SEE MY SON! *COUGH* *COUGH*" The crowd freezes as they hear Yasopp's voice from below deck.

"SHUT UP YASOPP! THIS IS WHAT YOU GET FOR HIDING IT FOR THREE DAYS! YOU'RE LUCKY YOU DIDN'T INFECT THE CREW!" They sweat drop at Angela's yelling.

Rose sighs. "Poor Yasopp." She digs into her pocket and gives a picture to Lucky Roo. "Can you give this to Yasopp for me? It's a copy of the picture of the crew that I made for him as thanks for teaching me observation haki."

He nods as he takes the picture from her then pulls her into a hug while comically crying. "I'm gonna miss you Rose! Tell Luffy we miss him too!"

She nods with a grin as she hugs him back. "I will, thanks Lucky Roo." The rest of the crew joined in the hug while some of them were comically crying.

"Aww! These two years were great!"

"Don't forget us!"

"We'll miss you!"

"I'll miss you guys too." Rose says as they let go. "Ready to go Zira?"

She nods as she waves to Monstar. "It's been fun Monstar."

He nods and gives her a thumbs up as she starts flying while Rose sends her and Shanks flying. Rose waves them off with a big smile as they reach the clouds. "Thank you guys for these past two years! I had a great time training! I'll see you in the New World!"

They wave them off from the deck as they make it into the clouds and start heading towards the island.

Shanks looks around the cloud in amazement as they fly towards Sabaody Archipelago. "Wow, no wonder you love flying so much! So after you drop me off at Shakki's bar you're gonna head over to the battle?"

She nods. "Yup, I should say hi to the guys at the bar first then I'll go find Luffy."

He nods in agreement. "Good idea. Man, won't Rayleigh be in for a shock."

Rose chuckles. "I'm sure he's already suspicious with my aura."

Zira flies up close. "Oh who cares about that?! We're finally seeing the crew!"

Rose nods as she faces the island with a grin. (Luffy, I'm coming!)

* * *

Hancock is on the deck of her ship with Luffy and Ace along with the Kuja warriors. She hands the boys a Kuja cloak for each of them. "Wear these you two. Until you reunite with the others you shouldn't cause too much attention to yourselves."

Luffy and Ace nod as they put the cloaks on.

"Thank you very much Hancock." Ace says while she nods with a frown.

"Thanks Hancock." Luffy says causing her to start swooning.

"My pleasure Luffy! Oh, before I forget you two should wear these as well." She hands them each a fake mustache then brings out a giant yellow backpack. "I also brought some supplies for you Luffy. 500 changes of clothes, enough lunches for a thousand men, handkerchiefs, tissues, three years' worth of water,-"

Gloriosa twitches an eyebrow in irritation. "MAKE IT LIGHTER!"

Ace sweat drops at the giant backpack. (This woman is nuts. At least Luffy said no to her marriage proposals…) He softly sighs then practices his observation haki to ignore her swooning then freezes in shock. (What the-?) He focuses his haki to find a few auras flying towards the island including a person with red aura. (What the hell?! Red aura?! Rayleigh said only people like Rose can have that kind of-)

"HEY ACE! COME ON ALREADY!" He snaps out of it to Luffy's yelling and finds him on the small boat already.

"I'm coming Lu! Thank you again for everything Kuja Pirates." He politely bows to the ladies before jumping off the boat and lands next to Luffy. (I have to check this out while we're on the island!)

Hancock looks at Luffy nervously with a light blush on her face. "Um Luffy, there is one thing I wish to ask of you."

"What is it? I'm not marrying you."

She shakes her head. "No, not that. What I wish is that you leave without saying farewell."

He nods with a grin. "I never say that anyway. I'm sure we'll see each other again."

Ace starts getting the boat moving while Luffy waves the girls off. "WE'RE OFF! SEE YOU!"

Hancock happily blushes. "He says we'll see each other again! Is that… A proposal?!"

Gloriosa shakes her head. "It's Nyot!"

Luffy turns to the island with a sad grin while Ace focuses on moving the boat. (We're back on the island Rose. *Sigh* I wish you were here…) He continues to stare at the island for the remainder of the boat ride while not knowing what will await him and the crew.

TO BE CONTINUED

* * *

 **A/N: Hi everyone, here comes the reunion. I apologize in advance that the upcoming chapter will be a long one but I promise that the full reunion will be in the next chapter. I apologize that it's taken so long and I hope you enjoyed this chapter and enjoy the next one. Also Ace's clothes were from the DLC of the One Piece video game Burning Blood but without the guns and with his old dagger.**


	33. Chapter 33

**A/N: Hi guys, I apologize for the long wait. I didn't know that people were that impatient about it. I'm glad you guys are this excited about Rose returning and I hope this chapter will live up to your expectations. If you guys have any attack or story ideas for Rose feel free to PM me. The idea for Sonic Wind was given to me by my friend 707cloud. I hope you enjoy.** **Also, if anyone is good at drawing I'm looking for people who are willing to draw some of the scenes from the story. (Non mature stuff) If anyone is willing to try feel free to PM me.**

* * *

Rose, Shanks and Zira landed in front of Shakki's Bar where an expecting Rayleigh was waiting for them.

Rayleigh casually grins as he walks up to them and pats Shanks on the shoulder. "Now this is a pleasant surprise. Glad to see you're alive Rose. So Shanks, what exactly happened?"

"I'll explain everything, but first let's go inside."

He nods as they walk inside to an injured Duval and the Fish Riders who are staring at Rose in utter shock while Shakki grins in amusement.

Rose nervously waves at the guys while Shanks, Rayleigh and Zira sit at the bar. "Hi guys. Long time no see."

Duval shakes his head to recover from the shock. "You're alive?! How's that even possible?! Does the rest of your crew know?!"

She shakes her head. "Not yet. Hehe, they're gonna be in for a shock today. Hey Shakki, what number am I on the crew's arrival list?"

Shakki grins as she gets the drinks out for the group. "You're number 9. Robin came by about an hour ago and should have arrived at the Sunny. So Shanks, what's the story here?"

"She was barely hanging onto her life at the end of the war and the Whitebeards treated her then I hid her on my ship while she was in a coma. She woke up after the two year message came out and we made an agreement that I train her in haki while she stays hidden until the crew meets up."

Rayleigh nods in understanding as he grins at Rose. "You definitely look stronger. Luffy's gonna be thrilled. He really missed you."

Rose nods. "I missed him too. How was training him and Ace? I'm sure it was nuts."

"Definitely, it felt like I was back on the Oro Jackson with Roger. I had a great time training them."

"I'm glad to hear. Thank you for your help and thanks for coating the ship." She politely bows to him then straightens up and turns to Shanks. "I'm gonna go find Luffy now. Thank you again for everything Shanks, I won't forget these two years. I'm sure I'll see you again when Luffy becomes the king of the pirates."

Shanks gets up from his seat then walks over to ruffle her hair. "Don't be so formal. You're a pirate after all. Anchor made a good choice in his queen. I'm gonna miss having you around. Remember what I said last night too: just go for the kiss!"

Rose whacks him on the head in irritation then sighs. "Man, you don't know when to quit. Hehe, thanks though I'll keep that in mind. Ready to go see him Zira?"

She nods as she flies off the counter then smiles at the guys. "Nice meeting you guys."

The Fish Riders jaws dropped in shock as they left. "A TALKING BIRD?!"

Shakki, Shanks and Rayleigh laugh at their reaction.

"Things are going to be pretty interesting today." Shakki says as she smokes her cigarette while the guys nod in agreement.

Shanks grabs his drink while sitting back down. "Before we help them out wanna catch up on old times Rayleigh?"

He nods as he grabs his flask with a grin and joins him for a drink.

* * *

Luffy and Ace land on the island and start walking.

Luffy grins with excitement. "I can't wait to see the crew. You're gonna love them Ace!"

"I'm sure I will. I can't wait for the New World." Ace grins then focuses on his observation haki to pinpoint the red aura's location causing him to lose his smile. (It's impossible for anyone to have that kind of aura except for Rose! Unless there are others that came to this world through the Timore Comet it can't be anyone else but her, but she's dead right?! If I tell Luffy and it isn't her it would only crush him… I gotta go check it out!)

Ace places a hand on Luffy's shoulder causing him to stop and look at him in confusion. "Something the matter Ace?"

"I need to go see Rayleigh about something important. Mind if we split up for a bit? I'll meet you at your ship after I talk to him."

He tilts his head in confusion then nods. "Ok, just don't get lost. I'm gonna see if I can go find some of the others." He runs ahead while Ace nods.

He turns to the aura's direction in irritation. (If it really is Rose she had better have a good explanation for what happened!) He runs off to find her.

* * *

Zoro and Sanji are walking together on Grove 41 to pick up some supplies.

Zoro looks around. "Before we go to the ship. I want to go fishing."

Sanji twitches an eyebrow in irritation. "Forget it you dumb brute! I don't trust you to go out on your own after getting on the wrong boat last time!"

He twitches an eyebrow in irritation. "Why should I listen to you?!"

"Because we're leaving soon, so just shut up and follow me!"

He scoffs. "I'm number 1 I don't need to listen to number 7."

"WHY ARE YOU TURNING THE ORDER WE CAME IN INTO SOME SORT OF RANKING YOU DUMB MARIMO?!"

"Whatever 7. By the way, do you know about Ace travelling with us?"

Sanji's anger fades at the question to irritation. "Yea, I know… That ass, if Rose-chan didn't go save him then she'd still be alive today."

"I know, but if Rose had just opened up to us and told us what was bothering her…" He clenches his fists in rage then shook his head. "What's done is done… When we see Ace I want him to tell us what happened at the war. Got any objections?"

He shakes his head. "We deserve to know what happened to her. Luffy suffered enough by watching her die, so Ace should be the one to do it… Let's just go get the supplies we need."

He nods as they continue shopping for supplies.

* * *

Brook has just finished his concert in the Shabondome Concert Stadium and is talking to Shakki on the Den Den Mushi. "Thank you for warning me about the marines Shakki-san. However, I can't leave right away for you see my fans are requesting an encore. I can't disappoint them. As soon as I finish I'll head to the ship right away."

"Very well Brook-chan. I'll get a fish rider to pick you up for when you're done. Break a leg." Shakki hangs up her end of the den den mushi.

Brook hangs up his end then picks up his guitar and looks at it softly. (Today's the day we're leaving Rose-san. I hope you're watching over us today.) He walks onto the stage where the fans, musicians and dancers are waiting for him.

The fans cheer for him as he's about to sing just before the marines storm into the concert hall.

"STOP THE MUSIC! THE CONCERT IS OVER FOR YOU BROOK!"

The fans and musicians freeze as one of the marines brings out his wanted poster and starts talking through the den den mushi. "SOUL KING BROOK! WE HAVE REASON TO BELIEVE THAT YOU ARE THE ACTING CAPTAIN OF THE RUMBAR PIRATES KNOWN AS HUMMING BROOK WITH A 33 MILLION BOUNTY! WE ALSO HAVE INFORMATION THAT YOU ARE ONE OF THE STRAW HAT PIRATES! YOU ARE UNDER ARREST PIRATE BROOK!"

The fans look at him in shock. "Soul king is a pirate?!"

"Hold on, isn't their captain Straw Hat Luffy dead?!"

Brook remains silent while his manager walks up on stage. "It's all over Brook."

He turns to him. "Manager, I thought this was your doing."

He nods as he gets his gun out. "When you told me you were quitting the music business to get back to your crew it was a real shock. Because of your betrayal we're gonna lose our business, so isn't it fair that you go down along with us?"

The marines aim their guns at him. "DROP THE GUITAR AND SURRENDER NOW!"

He doesn't listen as he gets his guitar ready. "My chorus, and my dancers. Would you join me in one last performance?"

The manager twitches an eyebrow in irritation. "ARE YOU CRAZY?! IT'S OVER FOR YOU BROOK!"

He ignores him as he goes up to the microphone. "I thank you manager for what you've done for me these past two years and for bringing me to the island. To all my fans I thank you for your support. This island is known as the 'Isle of Regrets'. For my crew this place is a home to painful memories of the last day we saw one of our dear friends: Wind Rider Rose… This island however is also the 'Isle of New Beginnings'. Today it's our duty to set sail once again and my duty to make our future adventures enjoyable. You think Straw Hat Luffy is dead? That's preposterous! To all my fans, please spread the message for me that Straw Hat Luffy is truly alive! How can the departure of the man who will be king of the pirates be a quiet affair?!"

The fans stare at him in awe while the reporters are calling their editors about the news.

Brook is getting ready to strum up his guitar. (Luffy-san. Let's go to the New World together.) "I hope you enjoy my final soul melody! YEAH!"

The marines try to attack the stage but the fans are holding them and the manager back as he starts playing. "HERE'S OUR FINAL SONG: THE NEW WORLD!"

The fans cheer as they hold off the marines until Brook finishes his song. Once he finishes the crowd starts an uproar as the other musicians lead him away from the mob and outside where a fish rider is waiting for him.

"Thank you for your help Fish-san." He climbs onto the fish while the fish rider nods with a grin.

(That's not my name, but it's ok if it's Soul King.) "Anytime Soul King. Let's go!" He flies away with Brook before the marines could catch up to them and safely escape the concert hall.

* * *

Usopp, Nami and Chopper run up to the Sunny where Robin and Franky are waiting on the deck.

"Robin! " Nami places her shopping bags on the deck then runs up to her and hugs her.

Robin grins as she hugs back. "It's good to see you. You're looking well."

Usopp and Chopper stare at Franky's new features with stars in their eyes on the deck of the ship.

"You look so cool!" Chopper says.

Usopp nods in agreement. "Right?! You're like a mech!"

Franky starts posing for them. "I'm a truly SUPER cyborg now!"

Usopp looks at him in confusion. "Wait, wouldn't it be hard to do delicate ship maintenance with those giant hands."

Franky opens his hand and a tiny hand pops out of it and wiggles its fingers for them. "Whatever do you mean?"

Chopper starts hyperventilating in excitement. "AWESOME!"

He goes to hug him but Usopp holds him back. "Take it easy Chopper! You'll collapse from excitement!"

Nami sweat drops at the excitement. "What exactly is up with Franky's body?"

Robin giggles at the excitement. "I don't fully understand myself but at least they're happy."

Nami nods in agreement as she walks around the deck to observe the coating. "Wow, so this is what the coating is like. Huh?" She freezes when she notices Rose's wanted poster framed on the wall. She walks up to it sadly. "Did you put this up Franky?"

Franky stops showing off his features and looks at the poster softly while he and the others walk up to it. "I thought that if we were leaving today that all of us should be here... I still can't believe that Freckles is gone."

Chopper and Usopp look at the picture sadly while Robin turns to them. "Everyone, I have a confession to make. When I told you guys that she was psychic I knew the actual truth about her… I knew that she wasn't ready to tell you yet, and I felt that if Rose knew that you weren't upset about her knowing what would happen she would feel more ready to tell you guys. I'm sorry…"

Nami goes up to her and pats her on the shoulder. "It's ok. You made sure it was her choice to tell us. I think it helped her open up because when we arrived at the Red Line she told me the name of her hometown."

She looks at her in shock before slowly nodding.

Usopp nods in agreement. "You did the right thing Robin. Don't beat yourself up for it."

Chopper goes up to hug her. "Rose wouldn't want you to feel bad about it. She still managed to tell us the truth herself at least."

Robin hugs him back while holding back from crying.

Franky nods in agreement. "Freckles wouldn't want us to be sad today. I heard that Straw Hat's brother will be coming with us. When he comes we can ask him where his crew buried her so we can go give her a visit."

Robin nods with a soft grin as she lets go of Chopper. "Thank you guys."

The others nod with a grin when Nami spots Rayleigh and Shakki heading towards them. She waves to them happily. "Rayleigh, Shakki! Good to see you guys!"

Rayleigh waves back with a grin. "Hey guys. It looks like things are starting to pick up on the island."

The group looks at them in confusion as they climb aboard the ship.

"What kind of things?" Chopper asks.

Shakki puffs a smoke from her cigarette before speaking. "The marines are on the island and they've mistaken the fake Monkey-chan's crew for the real thing. I've informed Brook-chan of the situation through a den den mushi and he said he will be arriving shortly."

Franky lifts up his sunglasses in surprise. "So he's giving up on being a star? That skeleton is a real man."

Rayleigh nods then gives the coating instructions to Nami. "You're the navigator right Nami? Here is all that you need to know in order to work the coating."

She nods as she takes the instructions. "I'll do my best."

Usopp looks at him in confusion. "Wait, what about Luffy and Ace? They're not here yet."

"Don't worry. Luffy and Ace are already on the island." Rayleigh grins at their excitement at the news then notices Roses wanted poster on the wall. (They really miss her… It's better not to spoil the surprise.) "Grove 42 is a safe bet for you guys to reunite. Once the whole crew gets back together you better be ready because after two long years all of you will be setting sail again."

They nod while Shakki and Rayleigh get off the ship and start walking.

"Are you sure it's ok not to tell them that Rose is alive?" Shakki asks.

Rayleigh nods. "It wouldn't be nice to spoil Rose's surprise. Besides, they wouldn't have fully believed me until they saw her for themselves."

She nods in understanding then grins. "I'm sure they're gonna be happy."

He nods in agreement as they walk off to the next grove. "Can't wait to see what happens."

* * *

Rose walks around Sabaody Archipelago Grove 14 on an empty street with her black mask on while Zira relaxes on her shoulder.

Zira sighs as she looks around. "So Rose, why aren't we flying? And why did you put the mask back on?"

Rose scratches the back of her head sheepishly. "I kinda forgot which grove the meeting was at… I'm gonna head into one of the taverns that might have a poster for the meeting then head over. As for the mask even though everyone thinks I'm dead it's better safe than sorry so I don't cause a scene. Right now, Luffy and Ace should either be knocking out the imposters or at the meeting."

"HOLD IT RIGHT THERE!" Rose and Zira freeze in shock at the sound of Ace's voice but don't turn around.

Zira turns to Rose nervously. "Umm Rose, what do we do here?! He still thinks you're Rukia!"

"I have no idea! Wait, why isn't he with Luffy?!"

Ace runs in front of them then freezes in shock. "R-rukia?! Zira?! What are you guys doing here?!"

Rose looks at him in shock while Zira waves at him. "Ace?! Hey, long time no see! Rukia and I are actually here to reunite with our crew."

He looks at them in shock. (What?! Wait a minute, the red aura belongs to Rukia?! Now that I look at her she has the same hair and eye color as Rose so they might be related!) "Wait, seriously?! Hold on! Why is your aura red Rukia?! Are you related to Wind Rider Rose?!"

Rose widens her purple eyes in shock then internally groans. (Of course that's how he found me! Shit… I might as well tell him now.) She sighs as she reaches for the mask and starts un-securing it. "For your first question my aura is red because I'm from another world. As for your second question no, I'm not related to Rose I am her." She takes off the mask and nervously grins and waves while putting the mask away. "Long time no see Ace."

His jaw falls to the ground in shock. (What the hell?!) He recovers then rubs the bridge of his nose to calm himself down. "Ok, I have plenty of questions, but I think this one is the most important right now… How old are you?"

She twitches an eyebrow in irritation then whacks him on the head. "Seriously?! Of all the questions you chose that one?! I'm the same age as Luffy!"

He massages his aching head in irritation. "What was wrong with that question?! And how can you be as old as Luffy when you met us as a teenager when we were kids?!"

"Zira and I were sent to the past last year!"

He blinks in surprise. "How did that happen?"

Zira groans. "Let's just say Luffy has more than one crazy grandparent… Speaking of which where is he?"

"We've split up so that I can track Roses aur-." He freezes. "How the hell did you survive the war?!"

Rose looks at him in shock. (He's just noticing that?!) "Aokiji missed my vitals then Shanks and your crewmates saved me. When I woke up Shanks kept me hidden and trained me in haki."

"What?! Why didn't my crew mates tell me this when I called them?!"

She sighs in exasperation. "They said you hung up on them before they could tell you because you were being chased by Kuja girls…"

He froze in utter shock for a minute then face palmed while groaning in annoyance. "You gotta be kidding me… *Sigh* as long as you're ok it's-" He stopped himself before grinning in excitement and grabs her shoulders. "Oh man! This is great! Do you know how happy Luffy will be when he finds out you're alive?! Come on! Let's go find him!" He grabs her wrist and starts running with her.

Zira flies in front of him. "Hold on! Do you know where he is?!"

He stopped himself. "Right! Hold on!" He uses his observation haki to sense Luffy then quirks an eyebrow in confusion. "Huh? Looks like he's with some people. I don't think they're his crewmates though."

Rose sighs. "It looks like the imposters are with him now. I'll explain later. Do you know which grove they're heading to?"

He nods. "It looks like they're heading to Grove 46."

She nods in excitement. "Great, then I hope you don't mind flying!"

"Wha- WHOA!" Ace couldn't finish as he, Rose and Zira start flying, hide in a cloud and start heading to the grove.

Ace immediately recovers from the shock then looks at Rose softly. "Rose… About what I said to you as a kid-"

She shakes her head with a soft grin. "Don't worry about it. After all, you weren't wrong about me hiding things too much…"

He softly sighs. "I still shouldn't have said it and for that I'm sorry."

"It's ok. Oh right! After we parted in the past I found out something awesome! Once we're off the island I'll tell you and Luffy!" (I can't wait to see the looks on their faces when I tell them about Sabo!)

"Really? I look forward to it. By the way, what exactly is going on?"

She smirks in excitement as she starts creating a ring of wind to circle around her right arm and turns that arm into wind vibrations. (I can't wait to test out this new move! With my fist vibrating this fast I can crush the pacifista then send him flying with the wind ring!) "We're gonna be facing a small army of marines, pirates and a few Pacifistas before escaping the island. I hope you're ready for a good fight!"

He blinks in surprise before smirking and turning his arms into fire. "Can't wait!"

* * *

The fake Luffy smirks at his audience of pirate captains as the fake Sanji and Zoro bring the real Luffy on the stage while not recognizing that it's him under his mask and cloak.

The fake Luffy points to him with pride. "Looks like we found one of the culprits who humiliated me! We're gonna teach him a lesson today!"

The crowd of pirates cheer while the real Luffy looks at them in confusion and turns to the fake Zoro and Sanji. "Do you know this guy?"

Before they can respond everyone freezes at the sound of marines running in and surrounding the pirates.

"THIS IS AS FAR AS YOU GO STRAW HATS! COME QUIETLY! WE HAVE THE GROVE SURROUNDED!"

The real Luffy looks at them in shock. "How did they know I was here?!"

Fake Zoro looks at him in confusion. "What the hell are you going on about? Captain, what do we do here?!"

"I don't-"

"LET'S SHOW THEM WHAT IT MEANS TO BE IN STRAW HAT LUFFY'S CREW MEN! WE'LL TAKE CARE OF THEM FOR YOU BOSS!" Caribou yells as the other pirates cheer in agreement and start fighting them off.

Luffy blinks in confusion. "Why are they calling me boss?"

Fake Luffy growls in irritation. "YOU IDIOTS, WHO TOLD YOU TO CHARGE AT THEM?!"

"AAAH!" The fake Straw Hats freeze in horror as they find 4 Pacifistas attacking the pirates.

Sentomarou looks at the crowd in confusion. "I thought Fire Fist would be with them too? Oh well, with 4 Pacifistas we should be able to capture the Straw Hats."

One of the pirates yell out desperately. "STRAW HAT BOSS DO SOME- Huh? Where did he go?" They look to see the fake Luffy running only to be confronted by Sentomarou.

The pirates start cheering for him. "TAKE DOWN SENTOMAROU STRAW HAT!"

Sentomarou looks at him in confusion. "Why are they calling you Straw Hat?"

He smirks at him while hiding his fear. "Don't you know who you're talking to?! If you don't want to get destroyed then get out of my way! I'm Straw Hat Lu-"

He whacks him with the blunt side of his broad axe. "STRAW HAT LUFFY ISN'T A WORTHLESS PIECE OF TRASH LIKE YOU!"

The pirates and marines stare at them in shock while Sentomarou turns to one of the Pacifistas. "PX-5, who is this guy?"

PX-5 starts analyzing him. "Pirate Demalo Black. Bounty worth 26 million beli."

"WHAT?!" The pirates scream in shock while some of the fake Straw Hats start making a run for it. Some of the pirates chase them in fury while the rest were surrounded by the marines.

Sentomarou glares at the pirates. "The deceivers may be fools but it's over for you lot! It's crazy though, it seems the real Straw Hat is on the island as well. The PX-5 detected him as soon as he stepped foot here. Take him out PX-5!"

PX-5 complies as he shoots a beam out of his mouth at the stage, but Luffy easily dodged with his bag while removing his mask and cloak.

Luffy looks at them in irritation. "Man, what was that about?! My food's in this bag you know?!"

Everyone on the island but Sentomarou and the Pacifistas stare at him in utter shock. "IT'S THE REAL STRAW HAT LUFFY!"

Luffy huffs in annoyance. "Don't tell me you guys are gonna get in my way again. I'm going to the New World this time!"

Sentomarou points to Luffy. "You're not going anywhere! PX-5, 3, and 8 surround him!"

The Pacifistas complied while Luffy got in second gear then jumps in the air. "Gum Gum Jet Pistol!" He punches through the pacifista and destroys it while the another opens his mouth to fire a beam at him while he's still in mid-air.

"FIRE FIST!" Ace blasts him from the sky to destroy him then lands with Luffy.

Luffy stares at him in shock while the third Pacifista gets ready to attack them from behind. (He came down from the sky?! How is that possible?! Unless…) He looks at him nervously. "A-ace, how did you-"

"Sonic Wind!" Luffy froze in utter shock while his heart skipped a beat at the sound of Rose's voice.

He immediately turns around to see Rose fly down in front of the Pacifista to punch his gut with her wind vibrations creating a large dent then blasted the ring of wind to send him spinning and crashing to a tree and explode.

Zira stays away from the battle from above while Rose lands right in front of Luffy with a grin. "Hi Luffy, it's great to see you. Are you ready to go to the New World?"

Tears start brimming in Luffy's eyes while he's frozen in shock. "R-Rose?!"

She slowly nods as she grabs his hand and starts flying with him, Ace and the bag. "Yup, I'm back. I really missed you."

Everyone else on the grove froze in shock as they stared at them. Sentomarou was the first to recover from the shock. "WIND RIDER ROSE'S ALIVE?! GET THEM MEN!"

Ace cracks his knuckles in excitement while the marines start charging. "Rose, put me down and get Luffy out of here! I can hold them off for you."

She nods as she puts him down and starts flying higher with a still frozen Luffy. "Ok, Zoro and Sanji will be here soon. They can take you to the ship."

He nods as he starts blasting the marines while Rose and Luffy start heading to the next grove with a few marines following.

"GET THEM!" They get ready to shoot when they were suddenly knocked out by Shanks' conquerors haki. He casually sits on a nearby rooftop and grins at the escaping couple. (Good luck Rose.)

* * *

Rose drops the bag next to them then lands in an alley with Luffy and sees that he's still frozen in shock with tears in his eyes. She looks at him softly as she lets go of his hand then bites her lip. (Luffy…) "… I know it must be weird to see me again. I-I'm so sorry about what happened and about not telling you about-"

Luffy cuts her off as he wraps his arms around her and locks her lips in a kiss. She blinks in surprise with a blush creeping onto her face before wrapping her arms around him and kissing him back. After a minute he pulls back and starts crying as he keeps ahold of her. "I-it really is you Rose… *Sob* What the hell happened to you?! Why didn't you tell me you were alive?! Why didn't you tell me the truth about where you came from?! *Sob*"

Rose looks at him nervously while holding back from crying and keeps her arms around him. "Aokiji missed my vitals. Shanks and the Whitebeards found out and saved me… After I found out what happened you were the first person I wanted to go to, but it was too risky to go off on my own. Shanks then agreed to train me in haki these past two years while hiding me…"

He blinks in surprise, wipes his tears then pouts. "You still kept being from another world from us. You shouldn't have been scared baka! Don't you know how cool that is?! I can't hate you for something like that! I love you!"

Rose blinks in surprise before softly grinning with tears in her eyes and holds onto him tightly. "Thank you, I love you too and I'm sorry for not telling you the truth…"

He nods in approval then starts grinning. "It's fine. So what else do you know?!"

"That your grandma can time travel…"

He looks at her in shock. "I have a grandma?!"

She nods. "Yup, she sent me to the past last year. By the way, here's someone you ought to remember. Zira!"

Zira flies down next to them causing Luffy to have stars in his eyes. "Zira?! Whoa, you're here too?!"

She nods. "Yup, I came here with Rose. Can I join the crew?"

He widens his eyes in shock then eagerly nods. "Yea! That would be awesome! Wait, what happened to Rukia?! She should come too!"

He looks around in confusion causing Zira to sigh. "She's the girl you're hugging."

Luffy looks at Rose for a second before shaking his head and scowling at Zira. "This isn't Rukia you dumb bird, this is Rose."

Zira twitches an eye in irritation. "You're the dumb one here!"

Rose laughs causing them to stop bickering. "I'll explain everything about Rukia later. Right now we gotta get going!"

He nods with a toothy grin as he lets go, puts on his backpack then picks Rose up bridal style. "Oh man! Everyone's gonna be so psyched when they see you! Let's get back to the ship before the marines get here!"

Rose's blush doubles as she tries to get down but he doesn't let her. "M-my legs aren't broken Luffy! Put me down!"

He shakes his head as he starts running with her while Zira follows. "No way! Until we're at the ship I'm not putting you down! You can use your wind to get us flying if you want?"

(He hasn't changed a bit…) She softly sighs then grins as she wraps her arms around him and uses her wind to lift them up. "Alright, let's get going."

"Shishishi! Yea! To the New World!" He couldn't stop grinning as they soar through the air then he sees Rayleigh up on a hill next to them. "RAYLEIGH! THANKS FOR EVERYTHING! THIS TIME I'M GONNA DO IT! I'M GONNA BE THE KING OF THE PIRATES!"

Rayleigh softly grins while happy tears start forming in his eyes while Luffy and Rose get away.

Rose waves at him while focusing her wind. "THANKS FOR THE HELP RAYLEIGH!"

Rayleigh nods. "GOOD LUCK TO YOU GUYS!" He spots the marines pursuing them then jumps off the hill and unsheathes his sword causing them to jump back in shock.

"Dark King Rayleigh?! You're helping out the Straw Hats?!"

He nods as he uses his sword to create a line on the ground between him and the marines. "My apprentices are gonna set sail today. You can do as you please, but I suggest that you don't cross this line if you know what's good for you."

They jolt in fear for a second before charging at him while Luffy, Rose and Zira are getting away.

* * *

Sanji, Ace and Zoro are making a run for it from the marines while Perona is holding them off with her ghosts.

"So what the hell happened to Luffy?!" Zoro asks as they keep running with the ship in their sights.

Ace grins. "He's catching up with someone important to him. Don't worry, you guys will see them soon." (It's a good idea not to spoil the surprise. I doubt they'd believe me anyway.)

Sanji glares at him. "Before Luffy makes it to the ship I want you to tell the crew what happened to Rose. It will be too painful for Luffy to talk about it and we deserve an explanation."

Ace slowly nods as his grin starts to fade. "I understand. I also want to apologize for what happened…" (Even though they didn't fight in the war it still caused them pain… I should tell them what happened then when Luffy and Rose arrive I'll tell them what Rose told me.)

Both guys nod as they see the Sunny in their sights. They jump onto the ship to see the rest of the crew look at them happily.

"Hi guys." Zoro says as the crew approaches them.

Nami grins in excitement as she sees them. "Guys! It's great to see you again. Long time no see Ace!"

Ace waves while Brook stops strumming his guitar and walks up to him. "So you're Ace-san? How do you do? My name is Brook. It's a pleasure to meet you."

Franky steps up. "What's up Fire Fist? I'm Franky, I'm the crew's SUPER shipwright."

Robin grins as she walks up to him. "My name is Robin. I'm the crew's archeologist."

He blinks in surprise. (Luffy's really good at picking strange people. They seem like good people though.) He grins then politely bows. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

They politely bow back. "Pleasure's all mine."

They straighten up while Sanji starts having hearts in his eyes as he sees the girls and blood starts trickling down his nose. "Mellorine! Nami-swaan, Robin-chwaan, and Ro-" He cuts himself off as he remembers that Rose isn't there then sighs as he wipes the blood off and grabs a cigarette.

Usopp frowns for a moment at what happened then shakes his head and starts grinning. "It's great to see you guys- Wait!" He and the others look around to see that Luffy isn't with them.

Chopper tilts his head in confusion. "Where's Luffy?"

Ace slightly frowns. (They're all still upset. Even though Rose is alive it's still my fault for what happened.) "Luffy's catching up with someone and is on his way. Before they come back I want to apologize to you all. If Rose didn't have to save me then none of that would have happened… I want to tell you all what happened at the war before Luffy arrives if that's ok with you."

The others look at him sadly then nod as Ace sits on a barrel while the others surround him. Chopper, Franky, and Usopp hold back from crying as they stand together. Brook holds his guitar and stares at it sadly. Sanji and Zoro glare at Ace in irritation while Nami and Robin stand next to each other with frowns on their faces.

Ace sighs as he looks at them softly. (Rose, please come here soon…) "Ok, I should go to the beginning of the war when Rose first arrived… I was locked onto the platform when Sengoku walked up next to me and was getting ready to announce my secret. I guess as a way to humiliate me before I died… Before he could say anything though Rose dropped tornadoes all over the upper yard of Marineford to distract them. Then she sent Sengoku flying in a tornado just before she swooped in and created a barrier around us and tried to pick my cuffs off."

Robin looks at him in shock. "Rose can pick sea stone cuffs?"

"I think she learned sometime when you guys separated because it took a long time for her to get close to finishing. While she was struggling with the cuffs Sengoku revealed her secret to the world…"

Zoro, Franky and Sanji clench their fists in rage while the rest look at him sadly as he continued.

"We couldn't hear anything through her barrier but she reassured me that it was her secret that was told and that mine was safe. I was so mad that this random girl was going through such lengths to help me that I jerked the cuffs away and demanded to know why she was trying so hard to save me." He chuckles at the memory. "She listed some reasons why she was doing it to get me to shut up including 'we freckled logia users ought to stick together.'"

The group chuckled at that then softly grinned for a moment before sadly looking at him again.

He sighs. "She didn't tell me that she was in Luffy's crew at the time, but she warned me not to fall for Akainu's taunts. Just before she could get the cuffs off gramps managed to break through her barrier and punched her off the platform. Marco caught her then she and the Whitebeards started fighting off the marines. Later on Luffy arrived, but Rose was too caught in her own fight to be able to catch up to him… Luffy made it to the platform and used a key to get me out of my cuffs then we started making a run for it. I didn't know what happened to Rose so I searched the battlefield for her and told Luffy what she did for me. He immediately recognized her, but before we could find her Akainu started taunting me by making fun of Whitebeard. I didn't listen to Rose and fell for it by trying to blast him but he overpowered me. He went for Luffy next when I went in front of him to take the blow but before I felt any lava Rose picked both me and Luffy up with her wind and got us away from the attack." He chuckles as he rubs his nose. "She immediately punched me in the nose for not listening to her and almost getting myself killed."

The group blinked in surprise then started laughing.

Brook claps while laughing. "Yohohoho! That's Rose-san for you!"

Usopp nods while laughing. "Hahaha! She kept that habit to the end." He recovers then sighs and rubs his nose softly at remembering the time her kid self kicked him in the nose.

Chopper nods in agreement before looking at Ace sadly. "Was that when…"

Ace's smile starts to fade. "Well… Luffy and I were out of energy, so Jimbei had to carry us while Rose helped the Whitebeards make a path for him. When we made it to the docks the ocean was already frozen by Aokiji. Then Akainu started pursuing us, so we jumped to try to get away and Buggy managed to catch us but he kept coming at us. Rose managed to send Akainu flying before he could hurt us, but before she could join us Aokiji attacked her and trapped them both in an ice barrier…"

They look at him in shock as he kept going. "Luffy and I both tried to get to her, but Jimbei held us back and we were too weak to fight him off… Trafalgar Law then came by with his submarine and we were dropped onto the deck. We kept struggling while Jimbei and Jean Bart held us back while my crewmates broke through the barrier. Aokiji attacked my crewmates, but before he completely froze them she attacked him, placed them on a ship then tried flying to get away from him as he pursued her."

Tears started to brim in the crew's eyes except Zoro who is clenching his fists in rage.

Ace looked at them softly then used his observation haki to see that Rose and Luffy are getting close to the grove. (I'd better finish the story…) "While Aokiji pursued her Luffy and I continued to try to get off the sub, but it was no good as we watched him knock her out. Law had me sedated and carried into the sub, but before Luffy was knocked out he saw Aokiji stab Rose in the stomach…"

The crew couldn't hold back from crying anymore. Nami and Robin hugged each other while the guys huddled together while Zoro sat down against the railing while covering his face with his hand.

Ace sighs before softly grinning. "However, this story has a happy ending."

The crew freezes and looks at him in utter confusion.

(Does he think it's a joke or something?!) Zoro recovers and glares at Ace. "What the hell are you talking-"

"GUYS! LOOK WHO'S BACK!" Luffy yells.

"HI GUYS, NUMBERS 9 & 10 HAVE ARRIVED! LET'S GO TO THE NEW WORLD!" The crew freezes in utter shock at the sound of Roses voice while Ace continued.

"Aokiji missed Rose's vitals and my crewmates got her treated before she lost her life. Then Shanks kept her hidden to protect her and train her until today's reunion."

The crew blinks in surprise for a moment before immediately running to the railing to see Luffy flying to the ship with Rose in his arms and landed on the deck while Zira landed on the railing.

(Wow, they look different from the picture but they still look awesome!) Zira looks at them in excitement while the crew looks at Rose in utter shock as Luffy puts her down.

"R-Rose-chan?!" Sanji stuttered in shock as the group approached her.

Rose rubs the back of her head nervously. "H-hi there everybody... I know I got a lot of explaining to do and I'm really sorry about- OOMPH!"

She was cut off as she and Luffy were pulled into a hug by Chopper, Usopp, Brook, Franky and Nami who are all crying.

Sanji runs to join them but the hug stumbles causing him to miss and fall on his face.

Robin grins at the group while tearing up with joy. Zoro and Ace smile at the group hug while Sanji recovers and weeps with joy.

Chopper starts sobbing and couldn't stop weeping in joy. "Waah! I can't believe you're back Rose! Did you know that she was alive this whole time Luffy?!"

Luffy shakes his head while stretching his arms around the group with a big grin. "I was just as surprised as you guys!"

Usopp keeps weeping. "Do you know how we felt when we thought you died Rose?! Those letters you gave us along with the article packed a punch!"

Rose starts tearing up then hugs them back. "I'm so sorry guys…"

Nami wipes her tears as she gets out of the hug. "You better be. I'm still gonna fine you for this, but I'm glad you're ok!"

Brook sniffles while crying. "I'm so glad I'm the only dead one again! For old time's sake may I see your panties?"

Rose chuckles while shaking her head. "No way!"

Franky couldn't stop bawling. "Waah! I'm so glad you're back Freckles!"

Rose wipes away her tears with a grin as they let go of her. "I'm glad to be back… Thank you and-"

*BOOM!*

She was cut off when they look out to see a battle ship coming and trying to fire at them. (Oh crap!) "We gotta go! We can finish the reunion underwater!"

Nami nods as she and Franky start following the instructions to get the coating ready.

Rose walks over to Zira. "Guys, this is my friend Zira. She's a falcon that ate the Sound Sound fruit and was experimented on by Dr. Vegapunk to receive human intelligence."

Zira nods as she flies onto her shoulder. "It's nice to meet you guys. I talked to Luffy and he said that it's ok to join the crew."

Robin giggles as she pets her head. "It's nice to meet you as well. I look forward to getting to know you."

Usopp looks at her in excitement. "That's so cool! Now we have two talking animals with us!"

Chopper nods in excitement while Brook looks at her with excitement. "Her devil fruit sounds like music to my ears. Oh wait I don't have any ears Yohohoho!"

Franky finishes the directions and the coating starts to expand then gets in his signature pose in excitement. "Today just keeps getting more and more SUPER!"

Zoro quirks an eyebrow then sighs. "Just when I thought this crew couldn't get any weirder."

Zira twitches an eyebrow in irritation then flies in front of him. "WHAT WAS THAT YOU BROCCOLI HEAD?!"

"IT'S NOT BROCCOLI IT'S MOSS!"

The crew laughs at the squabble.

(So Rose has a talent of attracting weird ones too.) Nami sighs then chuckles. "Welcome to the crew Zira."

She calms down then nods. "Thank you." She lands on the deck in front of Chopper. "From one talking animal to another let's be friends."

He nods with a grin. "I'd like that! So what kind of sounds can you make?"

Zira shifts her voice to sound like Chopper. "Sounds like this."

"Whoa!" He, Usopp, Brook and Luffy look at her in excitement as she keeps shifting her voice for them.

Sanji looks at Rose with hearts in his eyes as blood starts trickling down his nose. "I'm so happy you're alive Rose-chan! I guess it is true that you can't kill an angel!"

Rose looks at him in shock then points to his nose. "Um, Sanji your nose is bleeding."

He quickly wipes it off. "My apologies, I'm just so happy that all three of our beautiful ladies have returned."

Luffy stops looking at Zira and sees Sanji flirting with Rose. (Huh? Why do I feel annoyed all of a sudden?)

Rose raises her hands defensively to Sanji. "Right, there's something I gotta tell you Sanji. You see Luffy and I- Whoa!" She was cut off as Luffy stretched his hand to grab hers and he pulled her into his embrace.

She blinks in surprise as she sees him scowling at Sanji. (Is he jealous?)

Sanji twitches an eyebrow in irritation. "What's the matter with-"

*BOOM!* He was cut off as the sound of cannon fire gets closer and they look to see the battleship getting closer while the coating is halfway finished.

The Lieutenant starts shouting. "TAKE THEM DOWN MEN!"

"LOVE ARROW!" They look in shock to see The Kuja's ship attacking the battleship.

Robin looks at it in fascination. "Is that a Kuja ship?"

"That means Boa Hancock's here!" Sanji immediately recovers then searches for her until he spots her and he immediately turns to stone.

Usopp looks at him in shock. "What the-?! He turned to stone on the spot!"

(Oh crap! Who knows what'll happen if Hancock knows I'm alive?!) Rose tries to get out of Luffy's embrace but he keeps a hold of her until she turns her body into wind to get out until she was blocked by Ace right next to Luffy.

Ace looks at her in surprise as he keeps blocking her. (She knows that Hancock's in love with Luffy too?! That can't be the reason she's hiding though right?) "What's the matter? Is it about Hancock?"

She nods as she gives up trying to hide. "Yea, you see-"

"THANKS HANCOCK!" Luffy yells while waving at her and not noticing the tension.

(He thanked me!) Hancock blushes and happily turns to the crew until she spots Rose next to Luffy. (What the?! That witch is alive?!) She glares at Rose while Ace sweat drops and the crew looks at her in shock as the coating is almost finished.

Zoro turns to Rose in confusion. "What did you do to piss off the snake princess?"

Rose rubs the back of her head sheepishly. "Hancock and I kind of got into a fight during the war… Somehow she got this crazy idea that I could use-"

"ROSE YOU EVIL DEVIL! RELEASE YOUR LOVE SPELL ON LUFFY! I WON'T STOP COMING AFTER YOU UNTIL YOU DO SO!" Rose was cut off by Hancock's yelling causing the group to widen their eyes in shock.

Ace and the crew except Luffy and Rose blink in shock before staring at Luffy. (Seriously, what the hell is with Luffy and the girls?!)

Luffy's eyes are hidden behind his bangs to hide his emotions as he walks up to Rose.

Rose looks at him nervously as she raises her hands defensively. (Oh crap, don't tell me he believes her!) "Hold on Luffy, I can't perform love-"

He grabs Rose and locks her in an embrace before glaring at Hancock. "HANCOCK! LEAVE ROSE ALONE! SHE'S NOT A DEVIL, SHE'S MY PIRATE QUEEN!"

Hancock, and the crew's but Robin and Rose's jaws fell to their feet in utter shock. Rose is frozen with her face completely red while Robin giggled at the reaction.

Ace falls to the ground while laughing. "HAHAHA! Oh man, that's my brother! Hahaha!"

Zira nods in approval while joining Ace in laughing. "Hahaha! You haven't changed since you were a kid Luffy! That was great!"

"Luffy…" Hancock falls to the ground in tears while the Kujas help her up after they destroyed the battleship and retreated.

The others but Rose recovered.

"What the hell Luffy?! When did this happen?!" Usopp asks.

Luffy grins while keeping a hold of Rose. "She kissed me just before we separated in Sabaody, so we're a couple now!"

Chopper looks at her in shock. "Is this true Rose?"

She slowly nods while blushing. "Y-yea…" (He didn't need to shout it out… It was still sweet of him though.)

Nami and Robin grin in excitement while Sanji falls to his knees while crying.

"Why does the shitty captain have all the luck?!"

Zoro sighs. "It's not like you had a chance with her."

"What did you say?!" He and Zoro glare at each other while Brook laughs.

"Yohoho! Today really is great! I'll be sure to play a song to celebrate."

Franky nods. "We can do that after we get out of here. The coating just finished. We're ready when you are captain."

Luffy nods in approval while Rose gets out of Luffy's embrace to join the group. "Before we leave guys, I want to thank you for waiting two years to reunite."

The group grins as Luffy takes a deep breath then yells out. "LET'S SET SAIL FOR FISHMAN ISLAND!"

"YOSH!" The crew cheers as the sunny dives underwater and sets sail for the New World.

* * *

The ship safely makes it underwater causing everyone to look around in fascination at the sea creatures swimming around them.

"Wow this is amazing!" Zira says.

"It's so pretty!" Chopper says.

"You can't get a view like this from the window of a submarine." Franky says.

Luffy looks at the ocean with excitement. "The sea sure is pretty!"

Ace nods. "Reminds me of when the Whitebeards and I traveled down here the first time."

"Look at this!" Brook points to one of the roots of Sabaody Archipelago in amazement causing them to look at it in excitement.

Nami looks at the ocean in awe. "It's like we're leaving the human world behind."

Usopp looks around with worry. "W-we're able to make it back to the surface right?! Not that I'm scared or anything!"

Rose nods. "Don't worry we'll make it to Fishman Island."

The group freezes and turns to Rose causing her to sweat drop then rub the back of her head sheepishly. (Right… We gotta talk about that…) "Hehe, yea sorry about… Well everything."

Zoro takes his letter from his pocket. "You being from some other world is true?"

She slowly nods. "Y-yea…"

Nami walks up to her and whacks her on the head. "You dummy! You should have just told us! Do you really think we can hate you for something like that?!"

Rose looks at them softly. "I wasn't sure how you guys would react and that made me nervous… I'm sorry…"

Brook shakes his head. "You shouldn't apologize so much Rose-san. You were in a strange situation, so it's understandable that you were nervous."

Sanji nods. "You should know that angels like you are welcome here no matter what."

Rose sighs. "But I still tricked you guys… I'm really sorry about that."

Chopper goes up to her and hugs her. "I would've done the same thing if I was you."

Rose hugs him back with a soft grin. "Thanks doc."

Robin nods with a grin. "I'm glad we're on the same page now. So Rose, how much left of our adventures do you know?"

She lets go of Chopper. "I know about 2 more of the crew's adventures left."

Franky nods. "So you knew about Kuma then?"

She nods. "Yea, that's one of the reasons I allowed his attack to happen. I'm not sure of his full reasoning though."

The group quirks an eyebrow in confusion causing Franky to face them. "Kuma is a revolutionary. After he separated us he told Rayleigh that he allowed the marines to experiment on him little by little until he lost his personality completely. He agreed to it on the condition that he would be given a mission to protect our ship until one of us arrived."

Ace looks at him in confusion. "Why would he go so far?"

Rose sighs. "We don't know. It might have something to do with Luffy being Dragon's son but it's unclear."

Luffy nods. "So the bear guy's a good guy huh? I'm glad."

Sanji starts flaming up. "What part of him is good?! He sent me to hell!" He freezes then turns to Rose. "Not that I'm blaming you Rose-chan! You allowed it to happen to get us stronger!"

Ace widens his eyes at remembering what Rose said. ("When we parted in the past I found out something great!") "Oh yea Rose. You said you found out something in the past that Luffy and I should know. What is it?!"

Zira grins in excitement as she flies onto Rose's shoulder. "Ready Rose?"

She eagerly nods then faces the guys. "I found out that Sabo is alive!"

Ace and Luffy freeze in shock while Usopp looks at her in confusion. "Who's Sabo?"

"He's Luffy and Ace's brother! When he was a kid he tried to escape his noble parents by sailing away but Celestial dragons blew up his ship. He survived, but he had amnesia and got his memories back after the war!"

Robin looks at her in shock. "You're not referring to Sabo of the revolutionaries are you?"

"Yea, it's him. Dragon saved him from drowning after the explosion. Sabo begged him to stay with them in order to stay away from his parents without remembering the boys…"

Zoro takes a swig of his sake in irritation while Sanji and Nami look at the boys softly.

Chopper tears up. "That's so sad…"

Franky starts crying. "Waah! Poor kid! I'm not crying assholes!"

Brook looks at them sadly. "How tragic. At least he's alive."

Luffy runs up to Rose causing Zira to fly off as he grabs her shoulders. "Are you absolutely sure Rose?!"

She nods with a grin. "Yup, your grandma sent me to the past in order to become friends with Sabo so that his memories can return through my death article. She told me he'll come find us on an island called Dressrosa, so don't worry."

Ace widens his eyes at this then clenches his fists. (If Rose's death gave his memories back then that means my death would've been the trigger… What kind of cruel fate is that?!) He sighs, walks up to her and politely bows to her. "Thank you for saving my life."

She grins. "Don't worry about it. I'm just glad you're ok."

Luffy hugs her and spins with her in excitement. "THIS IS THE BEST DAY EVER! GUYS, GET READY TO PARTY!"

"YEA!" The group cheers as they start celebrating.

Brook starts playing his guitar while half the crew dances to the music.

Sanji starts eating while tearing up about Rose while Zoro takes a swig of his sake and smiles at the dancing crew.

Nami and Robin sit out and happily watch Rose and Luffy dancing together.

Rose happily grins as she dances with Luffy. (I can't believe we're back! I love these guys!) She couldn't stop smiling for the rest of the day as the crew celebrated their reunion and continued on their journey to Fishman Island.

TO BE CONTINUED


	34. Chapter 34

**A/N: Hi guys, just like Catone Rose I'm back from the dead. I apologize for the hiatus I had this summer class that was driving me nuts. Take my advice never take estate tax in the summer unless you're a masochist. Anyway, from now on i'll let you know if I'm gonna be on hiatus' like that again. Also, I'm looking for ideas for new moves. I'm thinking of the rasengan and rasen shurken but if anyone has any ideas please PRIVATE MESSAGE me. I think that's it on the announcement. Enjoy :D**

* * *

In Marine Headquarters a tall dark skinned high ranking marine with curly black hair is going through some of his paperwork at his desk with one of his subordinates when a low level marine officer comes running into the room in a panic.

"FLEET ADMIRAL AOKIJI! SOMETHING TERRIBLE HAS HAPPENED IN SABAODY ARCHIPELAGO!"

Aokiji quirks an eyebrow as he places the paperwork down while his subordinate looks at the officer in confusion. "What happened?"

"I just got off the den den mushi with Sentomaru! Our suspicions have been confirmed and the Straw Hats are back on the move! We've received word that Fire Fist Ace is with them as well! The worst part of it all though is that Wind Rider Rose is alive!"

The other marine looks at him skeptically. "Hold on there. You mean the outsider that invaded Marineford 2 years ago? That's impossible, Fleet Admiral Aokiji killed her himself."

He groans in frustration. "I know that but Sentomaru saw Rose there himself! He told me she used her powers to take down a Pacifista with a single wind punch and flew off with her captain! There's no mistaking it! The Devil of Hell's Comet is alive and is with the Straw Hats! What do we do Fleet Admiral?!"

Aokiji looks at the expecting faces with a scowl to hide his emotions as he stands up. (Looks like you couldn't hide yourself anymore Rose. I'm sure you know that I can't show you mercy anymore. I hope you're at least happy with your decision.)

Aokiji turns to his subordinate. "Get the available Vice Admirals in here as soon as possible for a meeting on how to handle this. I also want you to republish Wind Riders wanted poster and raise her bounty to 200 million." He points to the marine that arrived. "I want you to go to the newspaper publishers and tell them the news about Rose. They're bound to find out with how loud the Straw Hats are so there's no point in keeping this a secret. Tell them that the Marines are currently planning on a way to take care of her as well as the Straw Hats."

The marines nod as they salute him then run out of the room.

Aokiji goes to the couch and gets ready to take a nap. (Thanks to you coming back to life Wind Rider I'm going to be a lot busier now… I'd better nap while I can.) He falls asleep while a tan blond hair, black eyed marine was hiding outside the room and has finished recording the conversation with a tone dial then ran into a supply closet.

The marine grabs a baby den den mushi from his pocket and starts whispering into it. "Koala, did you leave the Revolutionary Base with Hack and Sabo yet?"

The baby den den mushi with bobbed brown hair shakes its head with a grin. "Not yet Cain, we're still at the base. Hack's with me and Sabo is getting the intel from Dragon about our next mission in the map room. What's going on?"

"You guys have to report this intel to Sabo and Dragon! I just recorded a conversation from Fleet Admiral Aokiji and I think it's better if you listen to it."

He plays the tone dial. "Sentomaru saw Rose there himself! He told me she used her powers to take down a Pacifista with a single wind punch and flew off with her captain! There's no mistaking it! The Devil of Hell's Comet is alive and is with the Straw Hats!" He turns off the tone dial.

The baby den den mushi stares at him in shock and the other side was taken by Hack. "Are you sure the tone dial caught that correctly Cain? Catone Rose is really alive?"

He nods. "The tone dial caught it as clear as the ocean. They also mentioned that Sabo's brother Ace is also with the Straw Hats and they're heading to the New World right now! I have to go now, but you guys have to tell Sabo! I'm sure he'll be psyched to find out that both his brothers and best friend are alive. I'll fill you in on more information later."

The baby den den mushi nods then falls asleep. Cain places the tiny snail back in his pocket and hides the tone dial in the room before leaving and getting back to his undercover duties.

* * *

At the revolutionary base in Baltigo a young girl with bobbed brown haired in a red cap and a yellow fish man with light blue hair hung up their side of the den den mushi conversation with Cain.

"Let's hurry and tell him Koala!" The fishman says as he and the brunette run out of the room.

Koala grins in excitement. "I can't believe this happened! And after Sabo regained his memories too! Someone up there must be looking out for him!" She runs as fast as she can leaving Hack in the dust then bursts the door to the map room open where Sabo and Dragon flinch and look at Koala in confusion. "Sabo! We found out something you have to hear!"

Sabo blinks in confusion at Koala's outburst. "What is it?"

Koala is practically jumping in excitement. "Your brothers are travelling together in the New World and the best part is Wind Rider Rose is alive!"

He widens his eyes in shock at the declaration. "Are you absolutely sure?!"

Hack catches up then nods with a grin on his face. "Sentomaru saw her himself when they were getting away from Sabaody. The marines are currently having an uproar of the news and are starting to be frantic."

Sabo looks at them in utter shock then starts grinning in excitement. "No wonder we couldn't find her devil fruit! She still has it! Dragon, the next mission will be in the New World correct?!"

He nods. "You, Koala and Hack are heading to Dressrosa to investigate the weapon dealings. If you leave now you can look into the whereabouts of the Straw Hats on the way and try to find them after the mission."

The blonde eagerly nods. "Thank you very much Dragon." He leaves the room in a hurry and makes it back to his room to pack while grinning like a Cheshire Cat. (I can't believe she's alive! I wonder if she and Zira time traveled yet! I hope Ace and Luffy stay together long enough for me to catch up to them! I better get going as soon as possible to find them!)

He finishes packing in an instant then runs out of the base while Koala and Hack hurry to catch up with him.

"Wait Sabo! Dragon gave us the mission too!" Hack says as he and Koala rush to catch up with him and board their boat to the New World.

* * *

Most of the Vice Admirals and Aokiji are in the war room to discuss the next action to take.

Vice Admiral Onigumo bangs the table in irritation and turns to Aokiji. "THIS IS RIDICULOUS AOKIJI! YOU KILLED THE GIRL YOURSELF! I'M SURE I SPEAK FOR EVERYONE HERE IN THAT WE DEMAND AN EXPLANATION FOR HOW WIND RIDER SURVIVED AND HOW WE'RE GONNA HANDLE HER!"

Aokiji scowls then shows them Rose's wanted poster. "As you all know, Wind Rider Rose is not your ordinary pirate. She is from a world that we don't understand and it's likely that she possesses powers that aren't a part of her devil fruit if those wind powers are even from one. It's possible that her people have healing capabilities that back then saved her life. When Red Hair and the Whitebeards found out that she didn't die they hid her away before we could discover the truth. When I fought her in Marineford 2 years ago I was sure that I completed my mission in killing her, but apparently that wasn't the case. I take full responsibility for underestimating her, but right now we need to focus on the present. Wind Rider Rose is not only alive but has reunited with the rest of her crew. Our main focus needs to be capturing the Straw Hats and bringing the outsider to justice."

The Vice Admirals glares softened at the explanation then nod in agreement.

Vice Admiral Momonga crosses his arms over his chest. "It will be difficult to track them in the New World. It's a shame that Kizaru's away on a mission."

Vice Admiral Ronse nods. "If Akainu didn't quit after Aokiji became Fleet Admiral he would've been perfect for this mission. Any thoughts on how to go about this Fleet Admiral?"

Aokiji nods. "I'm willing to send Tsuru and Bastille to the New World in order to get started. Vice Admiral Smoker is in the New World as well. After the meeting I'll contact him and let him know that as soon as he's done with his mission he is to begin tracking down the Straw Hats. Any objections?"

Tsuru and Bastille shake their heads.

"Very well, if there's nothing else then meeting adjourned."

The Vice Admirals get up from their seats and begin departing while some of them begin talking among themselves while leaving.

"I still can't believe the demon survived."

"I know who knows what other kind of powers she has?"

"The sooner we catch her the better. Right now she's probably plotting with the Straw Hats on the chaos that they'll pull next."

Meanwhile back on the Sunny that's travelling underwater to the New World Rose is alleviating boredom by riding her air scooter on the deck the Sunny. Usopp, Zira, Chopper and Luffy watch her with stars in their eyes while Zoro is napping on the deck and the rest are enjoying the ocean view and navigating the ship.

Rose grins as she zips past the audience then rides on the inner rails when the orb of wind started spinning too fast and sent her flying 3 feet in the air. She managed to go through the tangerine trees and land on her back on the upper deck.

The group runs over to her while she sits up.

"You ok?" Luffy asks as he takes her hand and helps her up.

She nods with a grin. "Yup, guess I didn't get the hang of riding my air scooter that long yet. That was fun though."

Nami rushes to the trees to see if they're ok. After making sure they're not damaged she walks up to them and whacks Rose on the head but her fist goes through her. "You're lucky you didn't damage the trees. Why are you even using your powers for something like that when you can fly?"

"Sorry about almost breaking the trees. I can give you three good reasons why an air scooter is important though: 1. It's a good way to bait enemies to come after me. 2. In tight corridors this is easier to help get me away from haki using enemies than flying. 3. It's really cool and super fun."

Nami sweat drops at Roses serious expression on her face. "You haven't changed a bit."

She shrugs her shoulders. "I wouldn't say so. I'm in almost complete control of my powers now."

Usopp narrows his eyes suspiciously. "Almost?"

She chuckles as she sheepishly rubs the back of her head. "Yea, sometimes I still hiccup with my powers. Zira's a witness."

Zira groans. "She still gets sent flying when she sneezes. One time while training with Shanks' crew she had this really bad cold. She hid it on the first day and after 5 minutes of training sneezed and sent herself and Yasopp flying overboard." She starts laughing at the memory. "Angela was practically breathing fire because of how pissed she was at her."

Chopper blinks in confusion. "Is Angela their doctor?"

Rose nods. "Yea, you would've liked her. She's actually a big fan of Dr. Kureha."

"Really?! Cool! I hope we can meet!"

She giggles. "I'm sure you will."

Luffy grins when he sees a school of fish passing the ship. "I wonder if I can get those fish with my gatling."

Zoro wakes up to the challenge with a smirk and starts unsheathing his sword. "Let's make it a contest to see who catches the most."

Usopp and Chopper whack them on the head.

"DON'T GO MAKING HOLES!" Usopp yells.

"ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL US?!" Chopper yells.

Sanji sighs then turns to Nami. "Nami, I think you should explain how the bubble works to them."

Nami nods with a smile. "I think that's a great idea Sanji."

(So beautiful!) Sanji starts nose bleeding so much that he's sent flying towards the bubble.

"Oh no you don't!" Rose quickly flew behind Sanji and slams his back to the deck before he could fly out of the bubble. She sweat drops at Sanji's weak state as he stays lying on the deck with blood still trickling out of his nose. (Oops, I guess I overdid it…) "Sorry Sanji!"

"I'm ok Rose-chan…" He stays down while his nose is still bleeding until Chopper rushes over to help him.

Ace sweat drops at Sanji's nose bleed. "What just happened?"

Rose face palms as she lands next to the guys. "You don't want to know…"

Chopper grabs the last of his blood bags for Sanji and starts a blood transfusion. "If this keeps up he might need a blood donation when we get to Fishman Island. I hope mermaids and fish men have the same blood types as humans…"

Usopp looks at him in worry. "Will he be ok to meet the mermaids? It might be a good idea to start getting him used to girls again with some tame pictures…"

Brook looks at him in confusion. "I don't understand how Sanji-san could be so… 'Sensitive' to women. What happened to him Rose-san?"

Rose shakes her head. "Sorry guys, but I don't think Sanji would want me to tell you. Right Sanji?"

Sanji weakly gives her a thumbs up causing her to nod in understanding. "Sorry it's his call, but with the picture treatment he will be a lot better by the time we meet any mermaids."

Chopper nods in understanding as he goes inside. "I'll get some pictures to start rehabilitating him then."

Robin calmly smiles as she walks up to Nami and ignores the mess. "So Nami, are these bubbles the same as the ones in Sabaody?"

She nods. "That's right. They can stretch to a certain extent but if they extend too far then the outer layer will thin. Rose, using your powers for something small like the scooter is fine, but don't do anything big or you might destroy the bubble by accident."

Rose nods in understanding. "No problem."

Nami nods in approval and continues. "Also, if we use our cannons at the wild beasts outside the bubble won't pop."

Chopper walks back out with the pictures while Usopp looks at her nervously. "What will pop it?"

Robin points outside the bubble. "That sea king's fangs can do it."

The group looks outside in shock to see a giant sea king approaching them.

Chopper, Zira and Usopp huddle together in fear when the sea king almost bit into the bubble but it got attacked by another sea king. "AAAH!"

Nami ignored them and kept going with her explanation. "That's correct Robin. Also, if the ship itself gets badly damaged by something such as by crashing into a rock the cracks in the hull or the mast can cause problems to the bubble. We'll have to avoid sea creatures and other obstacles, but as long as we don't do anything too stupid then we should be fine."

Franky nods. "Don't worry, the Sunny won't go down so easily. I'll take care of it"

Nami nods when she reads the last part of the note. "That's good because it says here that 70% of the ships that travel to Fishman Island get sunk before they reach the island."

Usopp looks at her in horror then looks at the ocean "I thought Hachi was gonna guide us…"

"Hachi got injured defending the Sunny so he couldn't come." Franky says.

Zira, Usopp and Chopper slowly nod then go to start the picture therapy for Sanji.

Rose tilts her head in thought then widens her eyes at remembering what happens to Hachi at the island. (Hachi… Damn that Hody and Decken! Wait, there was one more guy to look out for right? Who was he again?) She goes to the upper deck and sits by the railing while Ace looks out at the ocean.

"I know how to get to Fishman Island from here. I can guide you guys if you want."

Nami nods with a grin. "That would be great. Thank you Ace."

"My pleasure. Also, if it's alright with everyone I'd like to travel with you until we reach Dressrosa. If what Rose said is true and Sabo is going to be there I need to see him."

The groups nods with a grin.

"If we're going there in the future anyway I don't see why not." Zoro says.

"I'm sure Sabo-san will be excited to see you both. It will be a marvelous experience." Brook says as he sips his tea.

Luffy nods in agreement with a grin. "It's gonna be great!" He turns to see Rose sitting by the railing then walks up next to her while the others are talking amongst themselves. "You ok Rose?"

She snaps out of her thoughts then nods. "Yea, I'm just trying to remember some of the guys we're gonna be fighting on the island."

Luffy shakes his head as he sits cross legged in front of her. "You don't need to worry about that. We'll face them when we face them. That reminds me though, I have questions for you! Do the people in your world have any kind of cool powers? Is your wind powers really from a devil fruit or were you born with them?"

(*Sigh* I should've known he wouldn't hold back for long. Good thing we got the whole poop question out of the way…) Rose sighs and runs a hand through her hair. "First off, I don't have any special powers besides the wind. My wind abilities did come from a devil fruit that I got the first day I came here. Besides that I'm as human as anyone else here."

He nods. "Gotcha. So what's your world like?"

She sweat drops at the innocent excitement in his eyes. (Oh man, what do I say here? I shouldn't beat around the bush about it or he might want to go there…) She looks down nervously. "About my world… It's really different from here. It doesn't revolve around pirates like this one does, it's more technology based. It's also not the most fun place out there. Most of the people don't fight for their dreams anymore, and most of the ones that do get scolded for it until they achieve those dreams. Even those people are just a handful compared to those that give up and look down on those that fight for what they believe in…"

She sees his smile fading causing her to gently touch his hand with a grin. "But, there are some fun things there. Like the music is really cool, and most of the holiday celebrations are fun. There's even this one cop named Bobby who chased me around the city all the time because I street performed where I wasn't allowed to. Hehe, the funny thing though was that he's exactly like Smoker! Both their personalities and appearances are almost exactly the same. It's like they're long lost brothers!"

He laughs at that. "Shishishi, are you serious? Wait, what's a cop?"

"A cop is like a marine in this world they handle the law enforcement. They're not as corrupted as the marines here, but a lot of times they're slow to help people… There are both good and bad things about that world. The best thing there in my opinion is the stories. I can't tell you the amount of fun worlds that are out there and are in story form back home. Like there's a whole world full of ninjas and one revolving around wizards!"

He looks at her with stars in his eyes. "Really?!"

"Yup, now that I know how I came here and the effects of the crystal it's only a matter of time before I can say I completed the research. I still have to find out more things about it though. Like the time spans of when it comes to this world. I can't wait to see it again and find out what else I can learn about it!"

(She's as excited as ever!) He chuckles then freezes and starts looking at her nervously. "Does that mean you have to go back to your home to learn more about the comet?"

Rose widens her eyes then quickly shakes her head. "Since I already traveled and learned how to do so I don't need to leave for the rest. Even if I did have to travel though the last place I would go was back to my world. I don't have a place there anymore."

(Not like I had much of one to begin with…) She shakes the thought off then grins at him. "If I do leave I'll make sure that it's an awesome world where you and everyone else can come too if you want."

He looks at her sadly. (She really doesn't like her world...) He pulls her onto his lap and keeps his arms around her. "Wherever you want to go is fine with me. I'm just glad you came here first."

Rose blinks in surprise then wraps her arms around him and places her head on his shoulder with a smile on his face. "Me too. I'm happy to be with- A ship dragged by a giant sea cow?"

He pulls back in utter confusion. "Huh?"

She points to the ocean behind him causing him to turn around and see a pirate ship being dragged by a giant sea cow heading towards them.

"What the? Are they friends of yours Rose?"

"No they're not." (That's right, Caribou is the other guy.)

Rose and Luffy get up and join the others who noticed the ship.

"Who are those guys? We gotta get away or they're gonna ram us!" Usopp says as they move the Sunny to the side while the other ship comes up next to them.

"Looks like they want to fight." Zoro says as he gets ready to unsheathe his sword.

The black haired, dark skinned captain with his tongue sticking out and in a shirt too big for him charges the ship. "LET'S GET THEM!"

His crew mates start getting ready to board the Sunny behind their captain when Nami looks at the sea cow in shock.

"Wait a minute, I think I know this cow!" She runs up to him. "Mohmoo! Is that you?! Do you remember me?!"

Mohmoo looks at her in shock while Sanji and Luffy stare at him.

"That's really the cow from Arlong Park?" Sanji says as he glares at him.

Luffy looks at him in confusion. "Is he?"

The cow immediately remembers them and starts screaming in fear.

Zira looks at the captain in shock as he boards the ship. "Guys, look out for the creepo!"

"My name's not creepo! It's Caribou! We're here to slaughter every last one of you!"

Everyone gets ready for Caribou's crew to board when suddenly Mohmoo drags the ship away from the Sunny with all but Caribou still on board.

"WAAH! WHAT ARE YOU DOING SEA COW?! GO BACK!" Mohmoo doesn't listen to the crewmembers as he keeps swimming away with them and leaving Caribou behind.

Rose holds back from laughing while Caribou didn't notice his ship leaving and kept ranting. "WHAT'S GOING ON MEN?! DON'T STAND AROUND! GET YOUR GUNS READY SO WE CAN ANNIHILATE EVERY LAST ONE OF THEM!"

Nothing happens causing him to turn around in confusion then freeze in utter horror when he sees that his ship left him.

Franky picked him up and got ready to throw him into the water.

Caribou flails his limbs furiously. "WAIT A MINUTE! DON'T KILL ME! PLEASE! YOU CAN'T JUST THROW A MAN'S LIFE AWAY SO EASILY! G-GOD IS WATCHING OVER US! HE CAN CAST JUDGEMENT!"

Franky throws him on the deck head first. "Oh shut up! Quit acting like you're all righteous when you were just talking about killing us all."

Zoro steps up to him. "Who are you anyway? You're the captain right?"

Caribou raises his arms defensively. (CRAP! RORONOA ZORO!) "No, no, no! Don't be ridiculous! I was just a chore boy! I hated those guys!" He gets on his hands and knees. "This might be a perfect opportunity! Please let me stay with you!"

Chopper looks at him softly. "How sad."

Usopp slaps him upside the head. "It's obvious he's lying Chopper!"

"Eh?! Really?!"

Rose nods while giggling. "Caribou has a 210 million bounty I think. He's not that strong in combat though."

Caribou looks at her in fear. (I-it's Catone Rose!) "You're really alive?!"

(*Sigh* here we go again.) "Yup, back from the dead. You really think that war could kill me?"

"What?! Are you a devil or a goddess?!"

(That's right, this guy is really religious. This will be fun.) She smirks and starts chuckling darkly. "Those beings are mere worms compared to me. Ever heard of phantoms?"

"Wait, heard of what?!"

"Phantoms. They are creatures that blur the line between reality and imagination. For example a phantom could say… Give someone the feeling of flight." She creates a breeze to get Caribou floating an inch in the air.

"AAAH! EVIL PHANTOM!" He hits the floor then jumps back in fear before hitting his head on the railing.

Chopper, Brook and Usopp look at her in shock while the others laugh at the joke.

"These phantoms sound scarier than ghosts! Are you really one of them Rose-san?" Brook asks.

She shakes her head while laughing. "Hahaha, no I'm human. Those phantoms exist in a series called Musaigen no Phantom World. I couldn't resist messing with him."

Nami steps up to Caribou. "Don't scare them like that Rose. Anyway Caribou where did you find that Sea Cow that was pulling your ship?"

He starts calming down then looks at Nami and starts smirking while licking his lips. "My, aren't you cute? You must be the Cat Burglar Nami right?"

Sanji kicks him on the head. "Don't stare at our beautiful navigator with those perverted eyes!"

Caribou lies on the deck while Sanji turns to Nami with close eyes. "Nami-san you saw that ri-" He opens his eyes and looks at Nami then accidentally starts getting sent flying with his nose bleed.

Usopp looks at him in irritation. "WILL YOU QUIT DOING THAT ALREADY?!"

Luffy stretches his arm and pulls him back on the deck before he can fly out of the bubble. Sanji lies down while Chopper and Usopp get back to the picture rehabilitation and Caribou starts recovering.

"A-anyway, we just found that cow swimming around in the area. It's the mark of a pro undersea traveler to be pulled by a giant sea animal."

Luffy grins in excitement. "Really?"

Ace shakes his head. "It's not true Luffy."

Luffy pouts a little. "It's still cool though."

Robin grabs a rope. "In any case I don't think it's wise to leave our new guest unchecked."

Zoro nods in agreement as he takes the rope from her and ties up Caribou.

Caribou groans as he lets him tie him up. (Damnit, this is humiliating. I can't take on the crew by myself though. Does the phantom know about my abilities? If she did then she would've told the others so I guess I'm safe. I'd better bide my time and wait for my chance to jump them one by one…)

Zira looks at Caribou skeptically then joins Rose and Luffy who are looking out in the ocean for sea monsters. "Are you sure that it's ok to leave Caribou alone like that Rose?"

Rose nods as she keeps her eyes on the ocean. "Don't worry about it Zira. I know about his abilities and what he's gonna do. As long as we secure him at the right time it will be fine. He'll be giving us a hand soon in making friends with a sea monster, so it's better not to overdo it."

Luffy turns to her in excitement. "What kind of sea monster will we get?"

"You'll find out when you see him. For now let's keep searching."

He nods as the three of them keep searching the ocean.

Nami sweat drops at the search party. "I really hope those three don't do anything stupid…"

Zoro sighs. "With Rose and Luffy who knows? Hey, aren't we going in a different direction from the log pose?"

Nami looks at the log pose and nods with a grin. "It'll be fine. Travelling slightly southwest of where the loge pose is pointing is the best route."

Ace looks at the log pose and nods in agreement. "That's a good call. Pops told me all the time that the currents can get too strong on the straight path to the island."

"Just doing my part as the navigator. You guys should put on some coats. It's gonna get colder from here on out."

Zoro turns to her. "We're going somewhere cold? I thought we were going to the sea bottom."

Franky shakes his head. "Idiot, of course it gets cold at the bottom of the ocean."

Robin nods. "The deeper we get the colder it's gonna be. The currents are going to be different the deeper we go as well."

Usopp nods. "I see. Let's get ready then."

Some of the crew members got ready as the temperature starts dropping causing Brook to shiver. "My, this coldness is starting to make me shiver all the way to my bones. That's because-"

"You're only made of bones." Chopper cuts him off causing him to fall on his hands and knees with a cloud of depression hanging over him.

Rose keeps looking out at the currents. "These currents look really cool though, they're like a roller coaster."

Franky nods. "That's a good way to put it Freckles. These currents are interconnected in a way that they can rise up, go down, go in different directions and can loop together again. These currents flow throughout the seas of the whole world."

Brook recovers and gets up. "From what I heard the deep water currents flow at a leisurely pace. It can go slow in fact that once a ship travels to the very bottom it takes 2000 years because they surface again."

Usopp and Chopper look at him in shock. "2000 years?!"

He nods. "Indeed, because of this there are many legends that surround the deep water currents. There could be might beasts, curses, even… The souls of the dead."

Chopper yells in shock. "WHAT?! You mean there are ghosts at the bottom of the sea?!"

"I don't want to see any sea ghosts!" Zira huddles with Chopper in fear.

Brook looks at them in fear. "There are sea ghosts down here?! How scary!"

Ace sweat drops. "You were just talking about them weren't you?"

Luffy laughs. "Shishishi! I'm really excited now!"

Rose nods. "Me too!" (Too bad there aren't any ghosts down here. It would've been cool.)

Robin looks out and sees the current. "I think we're getting close Nami."

She looks out to see the ocean. "You're right."

Luffy jumps up to the head of the Sunny. "Where is it?!" He looks out and sees the current. "Whoa!"

Franky looks at it in excitement. "This current is SUPER amazing!"

Sanji struggles to get up and looks at the current in shock. "That's nuts!"

Zira looks at it in utter shock. "What the hell?! It's like a giant waterfall!"

Ace nods with a grin. "After we go through here it won't be long before we make it to the island."

As the ship gets closer to the plume Usopp looks at the darkness of the bottom in shock. "I can't see the bottom down there! Do we really have to go down there guys?"

Ace looks down in thought. "I can use my fire to light the way so we won't go down there blind."

Rose nods. "That's a good idea. The ship has a few lights too so we should be safe. We're gonna need all the light we can get when we meet-"

"OI! STRAW HATS! TURN AROUND QUICK!" She was cut off by Caribou's screaming.

Zoro turns to him. "Oh yea. You're still here. What are you going on about?"

"Take a good look down there! There's a monster below us!"

The crew looks at the chasm closer as he keeps rambling. "It's the legendary demon that roams the ocean! It's said to be the enemy of all humanity, never tired of slaughtering men! IT'S THE KRAKEN!"

Everyone looks down in a mixture of shock and excitement as they see a giant orange kraken with a few abandoned ships in its tentacles.

"AAAH!" Zira, Usopp and Chopper huddle in fear at the sight of the kraken.

Robin looks at the kraken with a grin. "It appears those ships from the past few days have been caught in its tentacles."

Nami looks at it in shock. "We should we be more concerned about our ship! It's a monster!"

Brook looks at him curiously. "The boneless beast… It's like seeing a counterpart of myself."

Zira turns to him in irritation. "Who cares?! This guy can eat us!"

Rose grins at the creature in excitement. (So this is Surume. This is so cool! I can't believe I'm seeing a kraken! He's beautiful!)

Caribou looks at him in fear. "I don't know where this monster came from! It must be feeding off the ship the use that current! I beg of you I don't want to die! Please turn back! If we wait a few days I'm sure-"

Luffy turns to him in frustration. "Shut up already! Guys, let's make this guy our pet!"

Everyone in the group except Rose and Robin looks at him in total shock.

Ace looks at him in disbelief "You can't be serious Luffy. You don't need a sea monster to get to Fishman Island."

Luffy shakes his head. "I'm completely serious! It would be awesome to have him pull our ship like the sea cow did for the weird guy."

Usopp runs up to him. "Don't be stupid! Just look at him! Can't you see how big he is?!"

Chopper frantically nods. "This is a legendary kraken! It must have lived hundreds of years! There's no way it'll agree to be our pet!"

Robin ignores the crowd and starts sketching the kraken.

Franky looks at the sketch. "That's pretty good."

"Not every day you can see a kraken."

Zira turns to them in disbelief. "Please take this seriously!" She flies next to Rose. "Talk your boyfriend out of this Rose! We're gonna get killed!"

Rose snaps out of her daze and turns to Zira with a grin. "Sorry Zira did you say something? I was focusing on the kraken. So Luffy, ready to bring him with us?"

Nami looks at her in shock. "Hold on! You're on board with this?!"

She nods. "Yea, he's really cool."

"THAT SHOULDN'T BE A REASON!" Zira yells.

Zoro looks at it in thought. "How can we even get it?"

Luffy looks at the chasm in thought. "The problem is getting underwater."

Usopp waves his hand dismissively. "No Luffy. It's the size that you should be concerned with. It can kill us."

While the group continues talking about what to do Caribou looks at them in distress. (What the hell is wrong with these guys?! Shouldn't they be concerned on how to survive this?! I have to do something or we're all gonna die!)

"CAPTAIN CARIBOU!" Caribou snaps out of his thoughts as he and everyone else sees Caribou's ship heading towards them.

Ace looks at them in surprise. "Looks like they came back for their captain."

Caribou starts grinning. "My glorious crew came-" He cuts himself off when one of Surume's tentacles came up from the chasm and wrapped around his ship and dragged them down with them.

(What the hell?! Come on already!) Caribou and half of the Straw Hats watch in horror as Surume crushed Caribou's ship.

"They crushed a ship larger than the Sunny in an instant!" Usopp says.

Zoro looks at the floating crew members with little interest. "They look like jellyfish."

"SHUT UP RORONOA!" Caribou yells. (Damnit! Now how do I get away from these crazy people?!)

Surume notices the ship and brings his tentacle towards the Sunny.

Luffy glares at the tentacle while getting ready to bite his thumb. "Gear 3 should take care of it."

Zoro starts grabbing his sword. "Not if I cut it down first."

Zira tackles Zoro in the face while Chopper tackles his stomach and Usopp tackles Luffy.

"Don't do it guys! You'll pop the bubble!" Zira says.

Usopp nods in agreement as they get off of them. "She's right! Franky, help us out!"

"I'm on it!" Franky gets to the steering wheel of the ship. "Get ready for Chicken Voyage!" He makes the ship go in reverse and dodges the tentacle before it could hurt them."

Ace looks at the ship impressed. "Wow, I've never seen a ship go backwards before."

Franky grins as he gets in his signature pose. "Of course! This ship was made in my SUPER design! It can do all sorts of things!"

Nami turns to Franky. "Let's use the Coup de Burst to get away from here. It can shoot us past the kraken."

He shakes his head. "I've thought of that but our air supply is limited. If we use the Coup de Burst the bubble will start shrinking. If Freckles tries resupplying the air one mistake can pop the bubble completely, so it's too risky since we're so deep underwater."

A cloud of depression floats over Nami, Usopp, Chopper and Zira. "Then what do we do?"

Rose grins as she heads towards Caribou. "Mind helping us out Caribou? We can fight off the ship with your coating."

He freezes in shock then nods with a smirk. (This is my chance to get rid of them!) "Not a problem. Anyone who wants to fight come over here!"

Zoro, Sanji and Luffy walk up to Caribou and he coats them in their own bubbles.

"It's like a diving suit." Sanji says.

Caribou nods. "That's right. This is called flutter kick coating. You should go too phantom girl. I'm sure they can use your help." He puts a coating around her before she could say anything.

(Looks like he wants to get rid of me in order to try and escape. Hehe he's clever, but the joke's on him.) She grins while nodding. "Sure, it will be fun to see the kraken up close."

Ace looks at her skeptically. "You sure about this? You can't overdo it with your wind down there."

"I still have my staff and haki. Besides, where's an opportunity like this gonna come up again?"

Robin nods as she ties a rope around their waists. "Once you guys are done fighting we can pull you back."

Usopp turns to her. "Hold on Robin this is crazy! Weird guy, don't stick your nose in things! We have to get away not fight him!"

Caribou turns to him in irritation. "Shut up! I was the first person to say that we should leave but your crazy captain won't listen! If they're going to fight him anyway would you rather they fight on the ship or safely away from us?"

Usopp freezes then turns to the guys. "Be sure to be as far away from us as possible!"

(*Sigh* Looks like there's no stopping them. If Rose knows what's going on it's ok.) Zira sighs then flies onto the railing next to them. "Just don't do anything stupid please?"

The guys nod while Rose walks up to Franky and starts whispering. "Keep an eye on Caribou. He might try to escape. When you find him use these." She gives him a pair of sea stone cuffs causing him to widen his eyes in shock then nod.

"Got it."

"Hurry up Rose!" Luffy says causing her to nod.

"Coming." (Good thing I kept those cuffs from the mines. With Caribou unable to use his powers the mermaids should be ok.) She starts leaving the ship with the trio while all four of them take the ropes off.

Chopper looks at them in shock. "Hey you need the lifeline! How will we bring you back?"

"Relax Chopper! We'll come back after we cut him down!" Zoro says as he gets his swords ready.

Luffy turns to him in irritation. "Don't cut him down! We're keeping the octopus!"

Sanji keeps running. "If it hurts Rose-chan I'll kill it no matter-" He looks at Rose and almost nose bleeds but he held it in.

(Looks like the treatment's starting to work. Can't wait to be friends with Surume.) Rose grins in excitement as she gets her staff ready. "Relax Sanji he can't hurt me. Be more concerned about yourself."

They approach the kraken while he tries to attack the Sunny but the ship manages to dodge the blows.

Luffy bites his thumb and grows it large enough to leave the bubble in third gear. Luffy struggles to move it as he coats it in armament haki. "Damnit, the seawater is draining me."

Surume's tentacle starts approaching him but Rose runs in front of him. "Wind Blade!" She cuts off some of the approaching tentacles about to hit them but more keep coming.

"Hold on guys!" Sanji runs out of the bubble and into the water towards the tentacles approaching the couple. (Diable Jambe Grill Shot!) He kicks the tentacles away then rushes back to his bubble with Surume's tentacles pursuing him.

Zoro unsheathes his katanas and gets ready to strike. "Santoryuu!" He cuts off the pursuing tentacles while Sanji makes it safely back to his bubble.

Luffy looks at them in irritation while readying his giant fist. "Quit cutting off its tentacles guys! I got him! Gum Gum ELEPHANT GUN!" He manages to extend his haki induced arm and punch Surume in the face.

The other watch him in shock from the ship.

"I can't believe how strong he is!" Zira says while Ace nods.

"He's grown a lot in the past two years. He wouldn't stop training until he knew he was stronger."

The crew looks at him softly when Brook looks at Surume in shock. "Hold on look! Is that a shark?"

The others look to see that Surume spat out a giant shark that's wearing a t-shirt.

(That must be Shirahoshi's pet. What was he doing down here in the first place?) Rose shrugs the thought off while Luffy, Zoro and Sanji look at him in confusion.

"What the hell's with the shark?" Zoro asks.

"That shark's huge! I can't believe he got eaten." Luffy says.

"Maybe a better question is what's it doing wearing clothes?" Sanji says.

Rose turns to them. "I wouldn't worry about the shark. We'll see him soon." She walks over to the kraken who's recovering from the blow. "Hey kraken, are you o-" Rose was cut off when a downward current carries them away.

(OH SHIT!) Rose and the guys try to escape the current but it was too strong and dragged them and Surume down to the dark chasm.

"AAAH!" The divers disappear into the chasm causing the crew to watch in horror from the Sunny.

"They got sucked by the current!" Robin says.

"We might get dragged down too if we don't do something!" Usopp says while Franky runs to the steering wheel.

Nami rushes to the side. "We need to keep the yard straight. Franky, turn the ship to the left and everyone hang on tight!"

"Right!" Franky steers the ship hard left to try to get away causing the ship to go on an angle and some of the crew members to start tumbling.

Zira hangs on to one of the ropes with her talons and grabs Chopper from the back of his shirt with her beak so he doesn't tumble around the deck. (Damnit Rose, if we don't die from this I'll make you wish you were deaf!)

Chopper grabs onto Zira then grabs his own ropes causing her to let go. "Thanks Zira."

She nods while the ship struggles to get away from the current but it's too strong. The ship starts spinning out of control in the current causing the everyone to scream. "AAAH!"

"THIS IS CRAZY!" Franky says as the ship gets dragged down by the current and followed Luffy and the others to the dark chasm at the bottom of the sea.

TO BE CONTINUED


	35. Chapter 35

"Luffy! Zoro! Sanji! Are you guys there?!" Rose searches the dark underwater chasm for the guys in her bubble after getting dragged away by the current but with no luck. (Damnit, where's a flashlight when you-)

She sees a light a few feet away then follows it. (That must be the crew's lights!) "Guys, there you-" She freezes when the light turned out to be a sea king with a light hanging in front of its face by its tentacle. "Holy… Shit…" (An angler fish sea king?!)

The sea king goes to bite her but she uses her wind to push the bubble away from him causing the bubble to shrink. (Crap!) She resupplies the air in her bubble but notices that the bubble layer thinned.

(That's not good. I'd better get away!) She tries to run from the sea king but he corners her. "Let's see how you like my wind missiles" Rose creates two wind cannons in her hands and focused to infuse them in armament haki then blasted them through his teeth.

The sea king writhed in pain then swam away crying. Rose smiles in satisfaction. (That was awesome! I'd better avoid the sea monsters or the bubble will-) She was cut off when the bubble starts breaking. "OH COME ON!" Rose tries to use her wind to create a bubble for herself but it was too late as the water managed to touch her and cancelled her power.

(SHIT!) Rose took a deep breath just before the water engulfed her and trapped her. (Damnit, I can't move! I can't see anyone either!)

Rose tries to struggle in the water but she couldn't do anything. Just before she ran out of air she felt a hand grab her arm and pull her into a bubble. She gasps for air then looks to see Luffy grabbing her shoulders and looking at her with worry in his eyes.

"Are you ok?!"

She nods and leans in to kiss his cheek which relaxes him. "Yea, I'm ok. I had a run in with a sea king and had to fight him off, but not before weakening my bubble when I tried to get away. Thanks for getting me in here."

He blinks for a moment then grins. "No problem. I'm just happy I made it in time. Any idea where the others went?"

She shakes her head. "No idea, how did you find me anyway?"

"I used my haki to find your aura."

She blinks in surprise before face palming. (Ugh, I'm such an idiot…)

He tilts his head in confusion. "You sure you're ok?"

"Yea, I just forgot about my haki. We should go find the others before this bubble pops too."

He nods as they use their observation haki to sense Zoro and Sanji nearby.

"There they are! Let's go!" Luffy grabs onto Roses hand and walks ahead with her walking right behind him in the bubble. "Hey Rose, did you see the octopus anywhere?"

"Sadly I lost him when we got separated. He couldn't have gotten-" She looks to see the sea king that attacked her swimming in a different direction with a mid-sized sea king and cornering a still unconscious Surume.

"Luffy, I found him!"

He looks at where Rose is looking at and sees Surume. "Come on! Let's go help him!"

Rose nods as they run as fast as they can to reach the sea kings while Surume is waking up in a daze.

"3rd gear!" Luffy readies his arm in armament haki while the 2 sea kings turn their attention to them.

Rose creates a wind cannon. "Remember me you overgrown trout?"

The sea king with broken teeth looks at her in fear then swims away causing his friend to look at him in confusion when Luffy punched him out with his elephant gun.

Surume looks at them in shock while Rose grins at him and waves. "Hiya, you feeling ok?"

He blinks in surprise before nodding.

Luffy laughs with a toothy grin after his body returned to normal. "Shishishi you're one strong octopus. I'll call you Surume. Wanna join us?"

He looks at them in shock while 2 more sea kings get ready to attack him from behind.

"WATCH OUT SURUME!" Luffy yells when he punches one of the sea kings and Rose blasts the other with a wind cannon. The sea kings swim away from them but at the cost of the bubble popping.

(CRAP!) Rose and Luffy grab onto each other just before the water engulfed them.

"GUYS! WHERE ARE YOU?!" Both devil fruit users hear Sanji and Zoro's voices but can't find them in the darkness.

Luffy and Rose try searching for them but they couldn't see them. Surume looks around frantically and finds Zoro and Sanji running in the water while sharing a bubble. They search the water frantically but the darkness blocks them from seeing Rose and Luffy. Surume quickly pushes the drowning couple so that Zoro and Sanji can spot them.

"Oh crap!" Sanji runs out of the bubble and into the water to reach them then pulls them into the bubble.

Rose and Luffy cough up water as the four of them try to get comfortable by sitting down.

"What the hell happened to you guys?" Zoro asks.

Luffy grins. "We fought some sea kings while protecting the octopus and popped the bubble. Thanks for finding us."

Sanji twitches an eyebrow in irritation before whacking Luffy. "Don't put Rose-chwan's life in danger for the octopus!"

Rose wraps her arms around Luffy protectively. "Don't be mad at Luffy Sanji! Surume's the one that got us to you guys!"

Zoro blinks in confusion. "Surume?"

Luffy nods as Rose lets go of him. "Yea, that's what I named him. He's our friend now right Surume?"

They turn to the kraken who's grinning and nodding.

Rose grins as she waves to him. "Thanks for helping us."

He grins and rubs a tentacle behind his head sheepishly.

Zoro huffs. "It's great that we survived the current and all, but we're all crammed in here now. How exactly do we find the others?"

"WAAAH!"

The five of them freeze at the sound of the crew screaming.

"Looks like we found them. Let's go Surume!" Luffy says as Surume guides them back to the ship.

* * *

"HOLY SHIT! AN ANGLER FISH!" Nami yells in fear as a giant angler fish gets ready but bite them, but was attacked from behind by a pink giant tiger blowfish fishman with a beard all around his face, no shirt and brown pants.

The fishman huffs in annoyance at the giant fish. "No eating ships Ankoro! How many times do I gotta tell you?! Capt. Decken will be mad!"

Ace looks at them in confusion. "Why did he rescue us?"

"That doesn't matter! We gotta get out of here and find the others!" Usopp says.

Brook nods when he freezes to the sound of music. "Hold on, do you hear that?"

The crew freezes when they hear the music getting louder and freeze when they see a giant ship with the words "The Flying Dutchman" written on their sails.

Brook, Zira and Chopper look at it in horror. "A GHOST SHIP!"

Usopp turns to Brook in disbelief. "WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO BE AFRAID OF?! YOU'RE ALREADY DEAD!"

"It's the Flying Dutchman that's why! Its story dates back from hundreds of years ago! One night during a storm their captain: Van Der Decken became deranged and killed all of his men and even spat on god! He incurred god's wrath and was punished to wander the seas for eternity!"

The crew looks at him in shock while the captain of the Flying Dutchman walks out onto the deck in a cloak. "Ankoro and Wadatsumi. You can't get treasure from a ship from eating it. Knock it down."

The blowfish fishman named Wadatsumi nods as he gets ready to hit the Sunny. "Alright!"

Robin turns to Franky. "Can you use the Coup De Burst to get us out of here?"

"I can't! We ran out of fuel dodging the sea monsters!"

Wadatsumi throws a punch when Surume swoops in and punches him in the face before he could hurt the ship.

Franky blinks in confusion. "Was that the kraken?"

Surume keeps beating him up until Luffy, Sanji, Rose and Zoro run in.

"That's enough Surume!" He freezes to Luffy's voice. "Good job."

He smiles and rubs the back of his head with his tentacle. The captain of the Dutchman tries to wake up Wadatsumi who was knocked unconscious while the four pirates crammed in a bubble walk up to the ship.

"LUFFY! ZORO! SANJI! ROSE!" Nami, Usopp, Zira and Chopper wave while the others smile in relief.

"Hey guys." Rose says.

"Nami-swaan! Robin-chwaan! I'm back!" Sanji says with hearts in his eyes.

Zoro huffs. "You guys are a real pain to find after getting lost like that."

Luffy stretches his arm to the mast then wrapped his other arm around Rose, Sanji and Zoro and pulled the four of them onto the Sunny and crashed into the mast.

Zoro whacks Luffy on the head. "Give us a warning when you're gonna do that!"

"Shishishi, sorry about that. Just glad I can move around now."

Rose nods in agreement then freezes when Zira flies up to her face.

"What the hell?! You scared us half to death when you were dragged off by the current!"

"I forgot about the current! We made it back at least!"

"How did you guys get stuck with one bubble anyway?" Usopp asks.

"We got separated and most of our bubbles popped while we were trying to find each other. Surume helped us get back together and we shared Zoro's bubble." Luffy says.

Nami huffs. "Geez, you guys worry us too much."

Franky laughs at the story. "Hahaha, is there anything you guys can't live through?"

Robin nods in agreement while Ace looks at the kraken in shock. "I can't believe you guys made friends with the kraken."

Rose nods. "He's really awesome. He managed to bring us to you guys."

Luffy nods with a toothy grin. "Yea, he's gonna help us get to Fishman Island. Right Surume?"

He nods with a smile while grabbing the Sunny and placing it on his back.

A tied up barrel on the deck starts shaking and screaming causing the crew to look at him. "LET ME OUT ALREADY DAMNIT! AND GET THESE SEASTONE CUFFS OFF!"

Sanji looks at it in shock. "Did you guys put that weird guy in the barrel?"

Franky nods. "He tried to escape by turning himself to mud and hid himself in the barrel but we caught him and managed to put sea stone cuffs on him."

Rose chuckles while he keeps rambling. "PHANTOM GIRL, IS THAT YOU?! I KNEW YOU WOULD SURVIVE THE OCEAN! IF YOU LET ME OUT I'LL SPREAD YOUR WORD TO THE WORLD!"

She twitches an eyebrow in irritation then whacks the barrel with her staff hard enough to cause him pain without breaking it. "The only two words I want you to spread are 'shut up'! Good job getting the cuffs on him guys."

Franky nods when they start hearing rumbling in the water.

Zira flies onto the railing to look around. "What's going on?"

Nami looks at the underwater volcano in horror. "We have to go! The underwater volcano is going to erupt!"

Decken turns to his crew. "WE'RE GETTING OUT OF HERE! WADATSUMI, ANKORO! PULL THE SHIP!"

Both of them nod as they grab the ship and make a run for it while Surume secures the Sunny on his head and starts running in the weirdest way possible.

Nami looks at Surume in amazement. "Wow, he's fast!"

Robin looks at him disapprovingly. "What a ridiculous way to run."

"It just shows how scary the eruption is!" Usopp says.

Ace nods. "As long as Surume gets us away from the eruption it doesn't matter how he runs. Wait, Luffy what are you doing?" He looks to see Luffy run to the back of the ship and stare at the volcano.

"I wanna see it erupt."

Before anyone can say anything the volcano erupted. The blast caused the Flying Dutchman and the giant fish henchmen to be sent flying.

"Whoa!" Rose looks at the ship in shock then looks at the volcano's magma flowing.

Robin looks at the magma with interest. "The magma is hitting the ocean floor and is causing changes in the water temperatures."

Nami looks at the magma in shock to see whirlpools are forming. "The temperature changes are creating whirlpools! You gotta get moving Surume!"

Surume is running as fast as he can to get everyone away from the whirlpools.

Sanji turns to Nami. "Nami-san, which way is-" He starts getting a nosebleed again.

Chopper looks at him in shock. "How can you be getting a nosebleed at a time like this?!"

Nami ignores them and looks at the log pose. "We need to go straight ahead." She looks ahead to see that a trench is approaching. "Surume, head into the trench!"

The crew except Ace and Rose look at her in shock.

"Are you serious?!" Usopp asks

"No, she's right! Fishman Island is down there." Ace says causing them to nod as Surume to dive into the trench.

As soon as Surume jumped into the trench another under sea volcano erupted.

"Oh come on!" Zira says when they look up to see boulders falling towards them.

Nami looks at them in shock. "This isn't good! The second eruption caused an avalanche!"

Zoro gets ready to unsheathe his sword. "I'll get out of the bubble and take care of it."

Robin crosses her arms over her chest to sprout arms out of the deck to hold Zoro down. "Don't do it Zoro! We're 8000 meters under water! The pressure will crush you!"

Zoro struggles out of the hold. "Then what do you suggest we do?!"

Usopp pulls out his giant slingshot. "Leave it to me! Green Star!" He shoots out at the rocks causing seaweed to grow and hold the to the cliff wall.

Zira looks at the sea weed in shock. "Whoa! That was awesome!"

Chopper looks at him with stars in excitement. "That was so cool Usopp!"

Usopp grins then turns to Surume. "These seaweeds will only hold for a moment! Get away while you can Surume!"

He nods as he swims safely from the worst of the avalanche.

Luffy pats Usopp on the back. "Nice job Usopp."

Usopp grins. "Just leave it to me guys! Hahaha!"

The others grin when a stray boulder falls towards them, but misses the ship and hits Surume in the head causing him to fall unconscious.

(Shit…) Rose turns to the others. "Guys, Surume got knocked out by a boulder!"

She and the others brace themselves for impact while the ship starts falling to the trench along with the kraken. Surume and the Sunny land at the bottom of the trench in a thud while a mysterious light manages to reach them. The crew recovers while groaning and looks around the ocean.

"Why is there light down here?" Chopper asks.

"Because Fishman Island is down here." Rose says with a grin causing the others to look around in excitement.

"Where is it?!" Luffy asks.

Usopp looks around and sees a giant bubble in the distance. "Is that it?!"

Nami looks at her log pose and sees a giant bubble surrounding an island in the distance. "There's no mistaking it. That's Fishman Island."

The crew looks at the island in amazement.

Rose couldn't stop smiling at the Island. (So that's Fishman Island. It's amazing, I can't wait to see Camie again and meet Shirahoshi.)

Surume recovers and grins as he starts carrying them to the island.

Sanji stares at the island with hearts in his eyes. "The beautiful mermaid island! I'm finally here, the island that I've always dreamed of!"

He and Brook start dancing in excitement until he starts nosebleeding again.

"Sanji!" Usopp catches Sanji as he collapses and lays him on the deck.

Zira looks at him in shock and lands next to him. (He really is sensitive to women!) "How can he deal with mermaids if he can't even deal with his own thoughts?!"

Chopper starts tearing up. "Sorry Sanji. It looks like we couldn't treat you in time. It's best if you avoid the mermaids…"

Usopp turns to him in shock. "But Chopper, it's his dream to meet the mermaids!"

"If he goes there he dies!"

Sanji weakly coughs. "I don't care…"

The three of them look at him in shock as he continues. "I'd rather peep on the mermaids and die of blood loss… *Cough* Than live a long life without seeing those beautiful creatures…"

Zira looks at him in disbelief then turns to the others. "Can I hit this guy please?"

Usopp and Chopper sigh in defeat then slowly nod. "Go ahead."

While Zira whacks Sanji with her wings Rose snaps out of her daze. (Oh crap! That means they're coming!) "Guys, we have to-"

"What's this kraken? You've reduced yourself to helping humans now?" Rose was cut off by one of the fishmen who are all riding a group of sea monsters heading their way. Surume looks at them in horror then separates himself from the crew.

"Who're these guys?" Zoro asks.

"They're from Hody's crew." Rose says as she glares at them. (Looks like Hammond's here. If I attack now it'll cause problems… I'd better hold back.)

She clenches her fists while Luffy looks at them in excitement. "Cool! What do you want?"

A slim Pike Conger Fishman with orange hair, a beak like mouth, sharp teeth, and dark glaring eyes rides up and tips his fedora with a sinister grin. "My name's Hammond, I'm a proud member of the New Fishman Pirates. You must be the Straw Hats, the ones that took down the Arlong Pirates. If that were all it would be clear that you're enemies. However, two years ago you protected Hachi-san and attacked a Celestial Dragon. I'm not sure how to deal with you, so tell me. Are you friend or foe? Will you join the New Fishman Pirates? If you refuse then we will sink you where you stand."

Luffy glares at him "What was that?!"

Ace keeps his glare on them while staying silent. (I've heard of these guys. They're from the Fishman District! What exactly happened to Fishman Island after Pops died?!) He clenches the railing while Nami turns to Franky.

"We need to refuel the ship!"

Franky quirks an eyebrow while the others listen in. "What are you planning?"

"You know Luffy will refuse, but under 10000 meters of water we can't fight them. We need to use the Coup De Burst to get us to the island."

"Are you nuts?! We'll lose all of our air!"

"It's either that or face them. Rose, can you resupply the air for us?"

Rose nods. "I'll do it, but I can't completely resupply it. I tried doing that with my bubble while we were separated but it thinned the outer layer of the bubble."

Franky looks at her in shock. "Are you serious?!"

Robin turns to them. "As long as you can give us enough air so we're not crushed by the bubble it's fine. Nami's right, this is the only way to get out of here."

Usopp nods as he gets the barrels. "Franky, you steer while I take care of the cola barrels."

He nods. "Alright SUPER! Let's go!"

Rose gets herself ready near the center of the ship.

Hammond starts growing impatient by the lack of response. "Will you join us or die Straw Hat Luffy?!"

Luffy grins. "NO WAY BAKA!"

Hammond looks at him in shock. "You refuse to join us?! Then it's decided! You're enemies to all Fishmen!"

Luffy pulls his cheeks out to taunt him. "Why do we have to become your minions?!"

Chopper pulls him back. "Why are you provoking them?'

Hammond snickers at the taunt. "It's a pity, but now we have to take you down. Sea Lion!"

The sea lion gets ready to attack them while Usopp calls out to Franky. "FRANKY! WE'RE GOOD TO GO!"

"Right! COUP DE BURST!"

The Sunny leaves the shocked fishmen and sea monsters in the dust and heads towards the island.

The outer layer of the bubble starts shrinking to the point where everyone starts getting squished to the deck when Rose used her air to resupply the air to the point where everyone can sit comfortably.

Rose stops when she sees the bubble's layer thinning. "Sorry guys, this is the best I can do without weakening the bubble too much before we get to the island."

Nami nods. "It's fine. We're almost there."

Sanji looks out with heart filled eyes. "I'M COMING MY MERMAIDS!"

Some of the others groan while they brace for impact of reaching Fishman Island's barrier. The ship made it through the first layer of the bubble and into the air stretch in between the layers, but at the cost of the coating being stripped away.

Robin looks around in shock. "That's not good!"

"Hang on tight guys!" Franky says as the ship blasts through the air stretch and starts heading to the second layer.

(Crap, I gotta try it one more time!) Rose managed to create a wind barrier around the ship just before the ship made it into the second layer. However, the current was too strong and it pushed through the barrier and lopsided the ship.

(OH COME ON! ENOUGH WITH THE EPIC FAILS TODAY!) Rose braced herself as the water engulfed her trapped her and the others in the water.

The non-devil fruit users try to swim to anyone close to them, but the currents lefts them as helpless as the others as it dragged them to different parts of the island leading to a bumpy arrival to their next adventure.

TO BE CONTINUED

* * *

 **A/N: Hi guys, sorry about the shortness in this one. I want to save the fishman island fun for the next few chapters. To make it up to you guys I made a crossover oneshot where Rose lives the the OP, Toriko and DBZ crossover. It's in my gallery if you want to take a look. Also, school is picking up so I can't update as often as I used to but I will definitely update so I only ask for your patience. I hope you enjoy Fishman Island. :)**


	36. Chapter 36

**A/N: Hi everyone, I just want to say Happy Anniversary! Today marks a full year since Roses adventures with the Straw Hats began! I want to thank you guys for following her story! I promise to come up with great chapters and specials in the future. I hope you enjoy Fishman Island!**

* * *

 _On an average day at Tony's pizzeria 16 year old Rose wearing a long sleeve red t-shirt and jeans was on break in the kitchen while reading her borrowed One Piece manga in the far corner of the room._

 _Naomi walks in the kitchen while running a hand through her reddish-brown hair and walks up to her. "You can stop hiding in the kitchen Rose. Bobby just left."_

 _She nods as she closes the book. "Thanks Naomi."_

 _"Instead of thanking me how about paying for a permit, so you can street perform without having him chase you."_

 _"I'll do it if you give me a raise."_

 _"No chance. Maybe I'll consider if you tell Bobby or a social worker how your foster family treats-"_

 _"And get relocated somewhere out of the city or an even worse family? Not happening."_

 _Naomi groans in frustration. "It's true you might leave the city, but you might be able to go someplace where the family doesn't claw your arms or hit you." She points at Roses bandaged wrists that are showing causing her to pull her sleeves down then gives her a reassuring grin._

 _"Relax, it's not like they really hurt me and the scratches fade quickly. I get hit worse at martial arts club. By the way, good news! After careful consideration I've finally decided on the world I want to go to when I figure out the comet's power!"_

 _She sighs. (This again…. At least she has hope in something.) "Really? Which one?"_

 _Rose gets up and shows her the volume 62 One Piece manga that she was reading. "If I have a say in where the Timore Comet takes me I want to go to the One Piece world!"_

 _She quirks an eyebrow then takes the book and skims through it. "Isn't this the one about pirates?"_

 _She eagerly nods. "Yea, it has everything that's awesome in one world. Giants, ghosts, dinosaurs, zombies, mermaids, and if I eat a devil fruit I could get a cool power!"_

 _She giggles at the enthusiasm. "Sounds perfect for you. Are you sure you want to go into a world with so much violence though? Aren't you tired of fighting all the time?"_

 _She shakes her head. "Where's the fun if I can't fight? Besides, with a world as crazy as that one they're bound to have heard of the comet, so I don't have to go back to square one."_

 _"I see, that makes sense." She freezes at one of the pages and sweat drops. "Did this guy really ask if she can poop?" She shows her the picture of Luffy asking Madame Shirley if mermaids can poop._

 _She covers her mouth to hold back from laughing. (Oh man, this must be what it's like when a parent walks in on their kid watching an awkward anime scene!) "Pfft! Hahaha, yea Luffy's a little weird but he's pretty funny. That world's a crazy place but it's also really fun. I'll just be happy to be in another world."_

 _Naomi sighs as she hands back the book. "I'm sure you would be… Look, I know you don't want to hear this anymore but at least try to enjoy this world. Who knows? Maybe you can have your adventure here and prove the comets existence to the world. After all, from what you told me your parents were able to figure out a lot about it before they died…"_

 _Roses smile starts to fade while putting the manga away. "*Sigh* You're right in that I can try to figure it out here, but unless I travel I can't prove anything and my findings would be treated as theories at best. Besides, compared to a world where bosses don't give raises to their hardworking employees going somewhere else is a better option."_

 _She twitches an eyebrow. "If employees would stop making up breaks to hide from cops then the bosses would be more generous!"_

 _She chuckles while rubbing the back of her head sheepishly. "Good point, but going to another world still sounds more appealing."_

 _"Just get back to work. Your break's over."_

 _She nods then heads out of the kitchen. "You got it boss."_

 _She sighs then grins before joining Rose out of the kitchen before the dinner rush arrived._

* * *

5 little mermaids in black tank tops, cowgirl hats on top of brown hair in ponytails and bubbles around their fins float over Rose and Luffy who are sleeping next to each other on a large shell bed.

"Are they ok?"

"They're ok!"

"They're not ok!"

"I think they're ok."

"So what if they're ok?"

Rose wakes up then sits up to find herself in a small but cozy apartment with water ways leading to different rooms.

She spots the cute little mermaids then waves while grinning. "Hi there, I'm Rose. Are we in Camie's apartment?"

They wave back and nod while one of them floats up to her. "Yea, Camie and some of your friends went out to get everyone's clothes dry. We made sure the boys didn't see you when we changed you."

She looks down to find herself in a blue tank top and purple shorts then bows her head. "Thank you for making sure no one saw my stomach."

Another mermaid tilts her head. "Is it about the scar?"

She nods as she places a hand over her stomach. "I got it from a war a few years ago. I'd rather they didn't see it yet." (Too bad the scar from when Aokiji stabbed me isn't temporary like Marie and Laura's scratches… *Sigh* The others are still getting used to me being alive and seeing it will just upset them. It should be fine for them to see after the arc is done.)

The mermaids nod then float over Luffy who's sleeping on his back in a white t-shirt and blue shorts with his limbs sprawled everywhere.

"Will he wake up?"

"He'll wake up."

"He won't wake up."

"I think he'll wake up."

"So what if he wakes up?"

Rose giggles. "Don't worry girls, he'll wake up." She softly grins at Luffy's sleeping face then gently pushes his bangs away from his eyes.

(Cute!) She moves her hand away when Luffy grabs it in his sleep causing her to jolt. He softly grins in his sleep as he turns towards her while his hand holds hers.

(W-what the?) A blush creeps on her face while the mermaids giggle and Sanji, Usopp, Chopper, Zira and Camie enter the room.

"Rose, you're awake!" Zira says as she and Chopper rush onto the bed while Sanji and Usopp walk up to them.

She snaps out of her daze then waves with her free hand. "Hey guys. How long have you been up?"

"We got up about 5 minutes ago. We don't know where the others went though." Usopp says.

She nods. "They made it to the island too. They should be awake and exploring the island by now."

Sanji nods as he holds back a nosebleed then sits on the bed with Usopp. "I'm glad that you, Nami and Robin are alright. Of course I'm happy I get to see you again Camie-chwaan!"

Camie giggles then nods. "Thanks Sanji-chin." She goes up to Rose and hugs her while crying comical tears. "I'm so happy you're ok Rose-chin! When I saw the war I was so sad when I thought you died! Is it true that you're not really psychic?"

She blinks in surprise then nods while hugging her back with her free arm. "Yea, sorry for tricking you Camie and thank you for getting us out of the ocean."

She nods as she pulls away. "My pleasure, your clothes should be done soon. Oh, just a second. Sanji-chin, please come help me in the kitchen." She heads into the kitchen while Sanji eagerly follows her.

Luffy turns to the side away from Rose in his sleep while still holding onto her hand causing her to go down with him.

(Aah!) She quickly turns and catches herself with her free arm before she lands on him, but freezes when her face stops at an inch away from his and her short brown hair tickles his face. She blushes and goes to sit up but his other arm wraps around her waist and pulls her close to him with her face on his chest.

She peeks over his shoulder to see the others shaking from holding back from laughing. (This universe really loves messing with me… Why can't this kind of fluffy stuff happen when we're alone?!) She buries her blushing face in Luffy's chest to hide making the others unable to hold back from laughing anymore.

Zira rolls around on the bed while laughing. "Hahaha, who knew you were so shy Rose?!"

Usopp nods as he recovers. "You don't know the half of it Zira. The first time she and Luffy slept together he kept a hold of her to the point where-" He was cut off when Rose used her free arm to throw a pillow at his face and knock him off the bed.

"Shut up Usopp! I bet you blushed like a fool all the time back at your hometown because of Kaya!"

He freezes before blushing and throwing the pillow at her. "Shut up!"

She catches it with her free arm while laughing with the others at his reaction causing Luffy to stir.

The mermaids start floating above him.

"Is he awake?"

"He's awake."

"He's not awake."

"I think he's awake."

"So what if he's awake?"

He jolts awake causing them to swim away as he sits up with Rose and lets go of her.

"Alright! He's awake!" Chopper says as he looks around in confusion.

"Hm? What happened?"

"You're awake Luffy-chin?! How are you feeling?"

He sees Camie swimming in with a tray full of soup then grins. "Camie?! It's great to see you!"

She nods then looks at them sheepishly. "Sorry for not meeting you at Sabaody, I got the dates mixed up."

"No problem." Chopper says.

"Have we really reached Fishman Island?" Luffy asks

"Yup, we made it." Zira says.

"We just woke up a little while ago." Usopp says.

Sanji walks out of the kitchen with Luffy's hat. "Camie brought us here to rest. Here's your hat back." He tosses the hat back to him.

"The others are scattered on the island, but they're ok." Rose says.

Luffy nods with a grin as he puts his hat on. "Glad to know they're fine. We should go find them soon."

They nod while Camie swims up to them. "I can't wait to see the others again. Here, I'm sure you guys are still cold. Here's some chilled soup to warm you up."

Zira tilts her head in confusion. "Wait, chilled soup doesn't warm you up!"

She looks at her in surprise. "Eh?! I messed up!"

Sanji takes the tray and passes the bowls to the others. "It still tastes great."

The others eat while the little mermaids leave and come back with their clothes.

"Here are your clothes back." One of them hands Rose back her clothes.

Luffy nods as he takes his clothes back. "Thanks, who are you guys anyway?"

Camie goes next to them. "These are my friends: The Medaka mermaid quintuplets."

Each mermaid floated up to introduce themselves.

"I'm Ichika."

"I'm Nika."

"I'm Sanka."

"I'm Yonka."

"I'm Yonka Two."

Usopp looks at them in confusion. "Shouldn't you be Goka?"

They shrug while Camie grins. "We can get out through the Sea Turtle elevator as soon as you guys get dressed."

Rose nods as she gets up and goes into the bathroom while the guys change. She quickly changes back into her jeans and shirt, but stops midway of putting on her shirt to see the vertical scar on her pale skin. She can't take her eyes off the scar on her stomach that goes from about 4 inches above her belly button to an inch below it with 5 stitches across the line.

She shakes her head then grins as she traces the scar line with her finger. (At least it doesn't hurt anymore, it actually looks pretty cool. If this is the cost of stopping Luffy's chest scar from being made then I can live with it.)

"Hey Rose, hurry up!" She snaps out of it at the sound of Luffy's voice.

"I'm coming! Keep your hat on!" She pushes her shirt down to cover it then quickly puts on her jacket, gloves and shoes then meets up with the others to see Sanji on his hands and knees while holding back a nosebleed.

"I will not make a fool of myself by falling unconscious from a nosebleed here. Can't fate just smile on me for once?!"

Usopp sweat drops. "He's really serious about this."

Rose turns to Zira. "He found out we're at the Mermaid cove huh?"

She nods. "Yup, will he be ok?"

"For the most part. We just need to keep an eye on him."

She nods as Camie opens the door.

"We should get going. I can't wait to introduce you to my friends."

The others nod as they follow her outside through an air way and reach a turtle with a bubble on its back.

Chopper looks around in excitement as they go inside the bubble. "Wow, we're riding a turtle?!"

Camie nods. "Yup, this is a sea turtle elevator. Please take us up to the surface Turtle-chin."

The turtle nods as it starts swimming up.

Rose looks around in amazement. "Wow, so these are coral apartment buildings huh?"

Camie nods. "That's right. I live near the bottom because it's cheaper. The closer you are to the surface the more expensive it gets."

Luffy looks at her in confusion. "Do Hacchi and Pappagg live with you?"

She shakes her head. "Hacchi got injured a year ago."

Usopp turns to her. "He was injured protecting the Sunny right?"

"Yea, but he's almost fully recovered and is recuperating at his home in the Fishman District."

Zira tilts her head in confusion. "Fishman District?"

She nods. "It's a pretty rough place, but if I'm with you guys we should be safe to visit."

Luffy nods while searching the area with Chopper and Rose. "Let's go there later on then. We gotta thank Hacchi for helping us out."

She nods. "That would be great. As for Pappagg he's a really famous designer. He lives in a mansion on Gyovalley hills."

Chopper turns to her in confusion. "Isn't Pappagg your pet? Shouldn't you live with him?"

"I don't feel comfortable there. Besides, this area has the tastiest clams you can find."

Usopp nods then freezes when he sees giant water tubes going from the water to the surface. "What are the tubes for?"

"Those are water roads so fishmen and mermaids can get around easier. Watch!" Camie leaves and goes in one of the water roads that reaches the surface while the turtle brings them to the surface.

The group leaves the bubble and walks onto the cove while Camie swims right above them in a water road.

"Camie!" One of the mermaids says.

Camie looks out at the cove then waves. "Hi guys!"

The others turn in shock to see mermaids swimming around in the cove while grinning at them.

"Are your pirate friends better now Camie?" A black haired mermaid asks.

A blue haired mermaid waves. "Hello there."

Luffy looks at the cove with stars in his eyes. "Whoa, this is awesome!"

Zira flies around in excitement while Chopper looks around with stars in his eyes.

"It's like a fairytale!" Usopp says.

Rose nods. "It's beautiful!" (This looks more amazing than the mermaid cove in Neverland!)

"WAAAH!" Sanji falls to his knees while crying causing everyone to jolt in shock.

"What the?! He's crying more than when he left the Baratie!" Luffy says.

Rose sighs then grins. "At least he's happy." She freezes when she felt that she was being stared at. (Huh?) She looks around to see the mermaids avoiding her gaze and a few of them whispering among themselves. (What's with them?)

Camie grins as she swims out of the water road and joins them. "Everyone, this is Luffy-chin, the long nose boy is Usopp-chin, the one crying is Sanji chin, the girl is Rose-chin, the bird is Zira-chin, and the raccoon dog is Chopper-chin."

"I'M A REINDEER!" Chopper yells.

Sanji keeps crying as he stands up. "I've finally found my All Blue!"

Zira sweat drops as she flies next to Chopper. "He's kidding right?"

"I hope so."

One of the mermaids swims next to the surface and takes Sanji's hand. "Why are you so sad? Come swim with us!"

He looks at her in shock then starts tearing up again. "I see… This joy cannot be possible… This must be the day I die…"

Usopp looks at him in shock. "Seriously, what happened to you these past two years?! Go accept your happiness Sanji!"

He freezes then nods before taking everything but his pants off. "I'LL DO IT! I'M COMING MERMAIDS!" He jumps into the water to swim with the mermaids.

Rose flies a few feet in the air. (I should find Caribou's barrel before the mermaids finds it.) "I'll be right back guys. I'm gonna explore."

Luffy grins as he waves while sitting by the water. "See ya!"

She waves him off then flies off and sees that most of the mermaids are avoiding her then softly sighs. (I guess I wasn't imagining it. Not like I wasn't expecting others to react to the 'Devil of Hell's Comet' like that… Oh well, I'd better go find the barrel before more craziness happens.)

Zira spots her and flies up next to her. "So Rose, what are you up to this time?"

She snaps out of her daze then chuckles. "Nothing gets past you Zira. Caribou's barrel is here somewhere. I'm gonna try to find him before the mermaids do."

She nods. "I see, even though he's in sea stone cuffs they might pity him if he sweet talks them and pick the locks. I'll help you out."

"Thanks."

"Wind girl! Please come down!"

She looks down to see three mermaids sitting on a rock in the middle of the water waving for her. (Huh? Weren't they avoiding me?)

Zira flies up to her. "Go see what they want. If you warn them about the barrel it'll be easier on us. I'll go see if I can find him."

She nods. "Ok, just be careful. I can't fully remember what comes after this, but I know we'll be leaving soon. If we get separated go to Neptune's castle. The mermaids can tell you where it is."

She nods then flies off. "Got it, don't do anything stupid."

"Back at you." Rose lands on the rock and sits cross legged then nervously grins. "H-hi there. I'm Rose."

The three mermaids nod as they approach her.

A blue finned mermaid with long straight blonde hair, green eyes, and pale skin wearing a red bikini shakes her hand. "Hi, I'm Tara."

A green finned mermaid with short brown hair, blue eyes hidden by glasses and tanned skin wearing a pink bikini grins. "I'm Lizzie."

A purple finned mermaid with bobbed black hair, brown eyes, and pale skin wearing a blue bikini nods. "I'm May. We have questions for you!"

She blinks in surprise. "Questions? What about?"

Tara stares at her intensely along with Mary and Lizzie. "Are you really the Devil of Hell's Comet?"

She tenses up. (They're confronting me?! Why?!) "T-that's what the World Government calls me anyway. Though besides my devil fruit I'm not all that different from humans."

Lizzie crosses her arms over her chest. "If you're not a demon then how did you survive the war?"

"I was just lucky. If the Whitebeards didn't treat me when they did I'd be long gone."

"Are you really from another world?" May asks causing her to nod.

Tara looks at her with stars in her eyes along with the others. "That's wonderful! We're interested in the Timore Comet too! How did you leave your world? If you tell us then we're willing to exchange what we know about it with you!"

Rose freezes at their excitement then blinks. (Wait a minute, they're… KINDRED SPIRITS?!) Her shock fades to pure excitement in seconds as stars form in her eyes. "I'll be more than happy to tell you how-"

She stops herself and shakes her head. (Focus Rose!) "Before that I need to warn you guys. There's a barrel somewhere around here that has a pervert inside. May you please tell your friends not to open it?"

Lizzie nods then swims off. "I'll go search for it. You two stay here and learn all you can about other worlds from her."

Both mermaids give her a thumbs up. "You got it!"

Rose blinks in surprise. "Wow, you guys seem really interested leaving this world."

Tara sighs. "You saw how mermaids are treated by slave traders right? Maybe in another world it'll be better for us mermaids."

Rose nods. "I understand, but I recommend waiting until you're at least thirty so your fins split and you can pass as humans. That way you can survive in any world you go to on both land and sea."

May nods. "That's our intention. Do you have any recommendations of a world that we can go to?"

She eagerly nods. "I know plenty of places where mermaids can coexist with humans. There's a world in a story called My Bride is a Mermaid that might work for you. Mermaid Melody might work too."

"Really?! Can you tell us about them?" Tara asks.

"It'll be my pleasure." Rose eagerly tells them about those worlds while they listened intently and laughed at the crazy adventures.

Usopp looks at the girls and chuckles. "Rose seems to be having fun."

Camie looks at them then grins. "That's Tara and May. They're scared of the slave traders in this world and want to use Hell's Comets power to travel to other worlds just like Rose did. They studied about it in secret from everyone outside the cove, but didn't gain any luck on how to travel. They were ready to give up when they heard that Rose succeeded and now they're more motivated than ever."

Luffy sees Rose enjoying herself then softly grins before turning to Camie. "Hey Camie, there's someone I gotta see while we're here."

Camie tilts her head. "Really? Who?"

"I gotta see Jimbei."

She looks at him in shock. "You mean Boss Jimbei?!"

He nods. "Back when I thought Rose died I almost gave up on being pirate king, but he and Ace helped me keep going. I gotta thank him."

Usopp looks at him in shock. "Hold on, you're telling me you know more shichibukai?! Well, former shichibukai?!"

Luffy nods with an easygoing grin. "Yup, he's my friend."

Chopper looks at him in shock. "What?!"

"Seriously Luffy, just what the hell are you?!" Usopp asks.

He shrugs while grinning. "We made a promise to meet at Fishman Island after I got stronger."

Camie grins. "Now that you mention it I read in an article that you fought alongside Jimbei."

He nods. "You know where he is?"

She sighs. "Sorry Luffy-chin, the thing is he's not on the island. When he left the Shichibukai the former members of the Fishman pirates weren't able to stay here including him…"

"Aww, you mean I can't see him?"

She nods then sighs. "It'll be hard to explain in detail but after the war a lot of things changed on the island."

The Medaka quintuplets swim to Camie in a hurry. "CAMIE!"

"They're coming!"

"The might be coming!"

"They might be coming!"

"They might not be coming!"

"Of course they'll be coming!"

Camie raises her hands up. "Hold on. Who is coming?"

"We don't know yet!" Ichika says.

"It's a rare kingdom ship." Yonka says.

"It doesn't come here very often." Sanka says.

"They could be here to capture the pirates for trespassing!" Yonka Two says.

The guys looks at them in shock. "Eh?!"

Camie turns to them. "You guys need to hide!"

The guys start hiding when Rose, Sanji and the mermaids see a giant ship heading towards them. Sanji was taken by one of the mermaids to hide while Rose gets up.

(Wait, this wasn't about the immigration!) "Hold on guys, they're- Mmph!" She was cut off as May and Tara cover her mouth and take her in the water while keeping her upper body afloat and swam behind some coral.

"Just stay quiet Rose. They'll leave soon." Tara says.

May nods. "As soon as they leave we'll take you to shore."

Rose internally groans. (Damnit, they came to thank us for helping the shark. We shouldn't be hiding...) She struggles and tries to tell them about the princes, but they keep a hand over her mouth while making sure her they don't drop her.

The guards of the ship start playing their bugles caused everyone to freeze.

The captain runs out of the ship first. "Make way for the three Neptune brothers!"

The mermaids that aren't hiding the crew are squealing in excitement as they make their appearance.

A muscular blue haired shark merman, a skinny pink haired oarfish merman, and a chubby shirtless opah merman swim off the gondola.

Rose internally sighs as she gives up and tries looking at them from over the coral. (So that's Fukaboshi, Ryuboshi and Mamboshi huh? It's crazy how three brothers can look so different. They look kinda cool. Wait, how did we get spotted again?)

Fuukaboshi crosses his arms over his chest. "We have received reports on illegal immigrants in the area. Have any of you seen them?"

Ryuboshi nods. "If you've seen them let us know re-fa-so-la-ti-do~""

Mamboshi nods while slightly dancing. "Aakaa Mamboo! Afterwards we can dance!"

One of the mermaids shakes her head while grinning. "Sorry, we haven't seen anyone."

Another mermaid nods. "Are they important?"

Fuukaboshi sighs. "To be honest we're not sure they're the ones we suspect… We received information from the border guard that they were here though."

Camie nods "If we see anyone we'll let you know right away."

Fuukaboshi sighs. "The border guard must've been mistaken. Thank you anyway."

He turns to get on the gondola while his brothers wave the girls off.

Mamboshi dances as he gets on the gondola. "When I'm free let's go dancing!"

Ryuboshi nods. "Until then we shall go-mi-re-do~"

The girls wave as the gondola starts leaving when suddenly a giant splurge of blood soared into the air in the shape of a mermaid shocking everyone and catching the princes attention.

(Oh crap! Sanji's nosebleed! How did his nosebleed look like a mermaid?!) Rose uses the shock to her advantage and shakes May and Tara's hands off of her mouth. "Guys, get me out of the water! I gotta help him!"

They nod as they bring her to dry land while Luffy, Usopp and Chopper rush over to Sanji after the mermaid places him on the coast.

"Oh crap, that's a lot of blood!" Luffy says.

"All the tension from being here bursted his blood out all at once!" Usopp says.

Chopper rushes to stop the bleeding. "He needs a blood donation!"

Fuukaboshi looks at them in shock then looks at Luffy's wanted poster. "It's him! Ammo knights!"

"RIGHT!" The knights of Neptune's army jump off the gondola and rush over to the Straw Hats.

Chopper raises his hands defensively. "Hold on! We're sorry for not entering here legally, but please let us treat our friend! We need a blood donation! His blood type is S RH negative! Please, I know it's rare but if anyone donates we'll be grateful! Fishmen and mermaid blood are compatible with human blood right?!"

The fishmen and mermaids look at them in distraught while staying silent.

Luffy looks at them in frustration. "Please help us!"

"He can't die in such a ridiculous way! Please help!" Usopp says.

Rose softly sighs as she gets on land. (They're scared of the blood law…) She rushes over to them while Camie goes over to Chopper.

"Chopper-chin, mermaids and fishmen do have the same blood types as humans but…"

"BWAHAHA! Stupid humans! Why would a superior fishman give blood to weak humans like you?!" Everyone turns in shock to see Hammond, and his henchmen including a sea monster walking to the scene while Hammond keeps ranting.

"If fishmen donated blood to pathetic humans then they're subject to punishment by the human haters!"

Luffy glares at them. "It's those guys from before."

Camie jumps into the water causing Usopp to look in confusion while Hammond keeps up his rant.

"We have a law on this land that's stayed standing for years. 'Thou shalt never share thy blood with human kind!' You humans are all to blame for this! Your fear of our kind has caused countless deaths to our kind! Including Fisher Tiger who freed all slaves regardless of race died because humans refused to give him blood! Just forget your friend and come with us to the Fishman District!"

Rose clenches her fists while keeping quiet when Hammond grabs a net launcher.

"We're not giving up until you some with us to the Fishman District! We'll even use force!" He launches a net while Luffy glares at them.

"I thought I told you we're not listening to your demands!" He punches the net away in a flash then gets into second gear and punches them. "JET PISTOL!"

Everyone else looks at Luffy in shock while he punched out Hammond and most of the cronies when the sea monster charges at him. He turns around and uses his conquerors haki to tame it.

Usopp looks at him in shock. "He didn't even hit him and he gave up?!"

Rose nods. "His conqueror's haki is amazing."

"GUYS! GET ON! THERE'S A PORT WHERE WE CAN FIND SOME HUMANS!" The group looks up to see Camie hijacking the royal gondola.

Rose uses her wind to quickly bring them on the ship while half the guards look at her in shock the other half looks at the gondola.

"Is that Wind Rider Rose?! I thought she died!"

"Give back the gondola!"

Camie bows her head to them while driving away. "I'M SORRY! I'LL GIVE IT BACK LATER!"

She quickly drives the ship away while the princes and the Neptune Army were left stranded at the cove. She turns to the others. "Sorry guys, if I had the right blood type I'd donate."

Usopp shakes his head and points to Sanji. "There's nothing for you to apologize about. It's this idiot's fault for being a pervert."

Chopper slaps Sanji on the head while he's still grinning like a perverted idiot. "Knock it off Sanji! Try thinking about your blood!"

Usopp huffs. "Still though, first the discrimination against you guys two years ago and now this. The problem with you guys runs deeper than we thought huh?"

Rose sighs as she crosses her arms over her chest. "You don't know the half of it. We should focus on getting this guy some blood right now…" (Too bad my blood's not the universal donor or I'd donate. Good thing blood type B positive exists in this world or I would've been a goner…)

Camie looks at Sanji. "Will we be able to find a donor at such short notice though?"

Rose nods. "Don't worry, I know some guys in town who can help. They should be at a local bar at the port by now."

Camie nods as she drives ahead while Luffy tilts his head in thought. "Hey, what happened to Zira?"

The group freezes then a cloud of depression hangs over Roses head as she hugs her knees. "She went to find the perv barrel … If I go back it'll cause a scene… As long as she's not noticed by Hammond's crew she shouldn't get caught and fed to the sea kings…"

Usopp sweat drops. "You hang out with Robin too much…"

Chopper looks at Usopp in confusion. "What's a perv barrel?"

Usopp shrugs while Luffy sits next to her and pats her on the shoulder. "Don't worry, I'm sure Zira's fine. She'll catch up to us when she finds the mystery barrel."

Rose sighs then nods. "Yea, you're right. I told her to meet us at the palace if we got separated, so we should meet her there."

Chopper tilts his head in confusion. "Why would you tell her to go there when they want to arrest us?"

"They weren't there to arrest us. They wanted to bring us to the palace to thank us for saving the shark Luffy made Surume cough up."

They froze then sweat dropped.

"Seriously?" Usopp asks.

She nods. "I was going to tell you guys, but Tara and May hid me before I could and well..." She points to Sanji causing them to nod.

"As long as Sanji will be ok it's fine. Let's go." Luffy says causing them to nod as the ship heads to the port.

* * *

10 minutes earlier Zira was looking for the barrel in frustration while the craziness had almost everyone's attention. "How can a barrel be so hard to find? Is he really here?" She freezes when she sees Sanji's blood geyser soaring in the air. "What the hell?! Why did the blood look like a mermaid?! Was that Sanji?! *Sigh* Guess that's why they had to go. Crazy pervert…"

She shakes her head. "They'll be fine. I'll head to the palace by myself and meet them there when I'm done."

"Thank you so much for getting these cuffs off of me."

She freezes in shock as when she hears Caribou's voice and sees him free of the barrel and cuffs thanks to two mermaids.

One mermaid nods. "It's our pleasure, I can't believe you were kidnapped by a phantom. Do you know if it's here?"

He nods as he starts licking his lips. "It is. You've heard of Catone Rose correct?"

The other mermaid nods. "Of course. Some of our friends are learning about other worlds from her. We were nervous about her at first, but when we calmed down she didn't seem scary."

"Don't let looks fool you! Things are never what they seem. Just like with… ME!" He turns most of his body into mud and starts kidnapping the girls.

(OH CRAP!) Zira flies behind him while he's distracted. (TASTE MY SONIC BOOM!) She opens her beak and screeches an ultrasonic sound wave at his head causing him to clench his ears then keel over and release the girls.

"GUYS!" The mermaids look to see Lizzie swimming towards them. "Come on, we have to get away from him!"

They swim away while Zira flies above them. "Are you guys ok?!"

They nod while Caribou recovers and layers mud over his ears. "I'LL TEACH YOU TO MESS WITH ME YOU FLYING HOWLER MONKEY!" He turns his arms into mud and traps Zira in it while muffling her beak.

(DAMNIT! SOMEONE HELP!) She struggles in the mud while Caribou brings her to his face.

"You're the phantoms pet aren't you? Perfect! Not only will I get my revenge by selling you off, but I'll make a great profit!"

Zira widens her golden eyes in shock. (Did he just say sell me?! AND WHO ARE YOU CALLING A PET YOU PERVY SWAMP DONKEY?! WHEN THE OTHERS ARE DONE WITH YOU YOU'LL BE LUCKY TO EAT MUD THROUGH A STRAW!) She screeches and blasts the mud off her beak. She aims another sound wave at him and almost made his ears bleed before he slammed her to the ground and knocked her out.

He shakes his head to get the ringing out of his ears. "Damn bird, if she kept her mouth open any longer she would've blasted my head off since my body's liquid. Not that it would kill me. Still, that power can fetch a good price." He reinforces the mud around her beak then traps her in his body.

The two mermaids got away while Lizzie looks back to see that Zira's in trouble then sees the sea stone cuffs. (I gotta stop him before he hurts anyone else!) She swims for the cuffs, but Caribou saw her and trapped her in his mud before she could get them and gagged her.

He smirks as he sees her squirm and struggle. "Who says I'd settle with the bird? I'll collect as many mermaids as I want and make a fortune!" He keeps Zira and Lizzie trapped in his body then runs off to kidnap more mermaids.

* * *

Luffy's group are in the back of the mermaid café where Sanji is sleeping in a bed in one side of the room that's divided by a curtain. Everyone surrounds his bed while his blood transfusion is finishing.

Sanji starts gaining consciousness as the blood finishes entering his body. "Huh? Where… Am I?"

The group starts relaxing in their seats.

Camie sniffles with tears in her eyes. "You almost lost all your blood Sanji-chin… We were so worried! You're in my friend's house."

He sits up while rubbing his head. "I almost lost all my blood? What happened?"

Rose raises her hands up. "Don't try to remember!"

Luffy groans. "It was frustrating… I wish the fishmen helped us…"

Usopp groans. "I'm just glad we found some humans…"

Sanji blinks in surprise. "Thank you."

Rose grins. "No problem."

Usopp moves to open the hospital curtain that splits the room in two. "By the way, here are the donors we found."

A feminine voice chirps behind the curtain. "Please, no need to thank us. We human need to stick together in times of need."

Sanji widens his eyes in shock while the curtain is still hiding the donors. "D-don't tell me I received blood from a-"

Usopp opens the curtains to reveal twin masculine okama pirates Splash and Splatter.

The blond haired blue eyed pirate named Splash giggles. "Think nothing of it silly!"

The dark haired green eyed man grins while flexing his arm. "If you need any more blood there's plenty more where that came from."

Sanji looks at them in utter horror then screams and starts freaking out. "AAAH!"

Usopp sweat drops. "Try saying thank you…"

Luffy laughs while Sanji keeps freaking out. "Glad to see that he's back to normal. Shishishi!"

Chopper looks at him in shock. "What part of that is normal?!"

Rose sighs. "He's hopeless. This is why I said not to reveal the donors. Oh well, It was still nice of them to help us out."

Camie giggles at the reaction then places a bubble around her fin. "I'm gonna tell my friend that you're ok Sanji-chin." She turns to Usopp, Luffy and Rose. "Do you guys want to meet her?"

The three of them nod as they follow Camie out of the room while Chopper stays behind to take care of Sanji. Once they reached the next room Camie goes up to the large black haired shark mermaid named Madame Shirley who is smoking from her pipe.

"Is the blond boy alright now?" Madame Shirley asks.

Camie nods. "Uh-huh. Thank you for lending us the back room. May I please ask that you stay out of there since you're so beautiful? Also, we're not allowed to let Sanji-chin to know that we're at the Mermaid café."

She giggles at the request. "Hahaha, that's an unusual prescription but if it'll help I'll do what I can."

Rose looks around the room in amazement while viewing the trinkets. (So this is Madame Shirley's treasure trove! Cool!) She walks up to the mermaids then politely bows. "It's a pleasure to meet you Madame Shirley, I'm Rose. Thank you for helping us."

She grins as she smokes her pipe. "My pleasure. I'm glad my vision about you came true."

She quirks an eyebrow as she straightens up. "What vis-"

"Hey big mermaid, what's this here?" Luffy cuts her off while pointing to a crystal ball that's sitting in a giant shell.

"Her name's Madame Shirley Luffy-chin!" Camie says.

Madame Shirley smiles. "Don't go touching that boys, it's very fragile."

Camie nods. "Madame Shirley uses that crystal ball for fortune telling!"

Usopp looks at the shark mermaid in shock. "So you're a real psychic?"

She nods. "I don't do that sort of thing anymore though… It's better not to know the future."

Rose looks at her softly while Luffy grins. "So do mermaids poop?"

Usopp slaps him upside the head. "WHAT DOES THAT HAVE TO DO WITH FORTUNE TELLING?!"

Madame Shirley glares at him while fangs starts coming out of her mouth. "What a vulgar boy!"

Rose runs in front of her while waving her arms defensively. "Sorry about him Madame Shirley! He didn't ask to be gross I swear!" (How can a scene that made me laugh back home be so scary up close?!)

Camie goes next to Luffy. "Apologize too Luffy-chin!"

He sweat drops at the drama. "Sorry…"

Madame Shirley nods then smokes her pipe. "It's fine. Camie, go ahead and take today off. You can show your friends to the island."

Camie looks at her in shock. "Are you sure?!"

She nods. "Of course. We haven't had a lot of business lately and the girls from the cove should be here soon, so we'll be fine."

Camie widens her eyes in realization. "Oh right! I have to go get Pappagg his clams!"

Usopp sweat drops. "That's a weird timing to bring that up."

Madame Shirley looks at her curiously. "Pappagg? He's meeting some old friends. They're making a scene in the front room of the café."

"Really?! We should get going."

The others nod then wave her off as they leave from the back entrance to get in the café in order to avoid Sanji.

Camie turns to them while floating besides them. "I didn't want to tell you guys this in front of her but Madame Shirley is never wrong in her predictions. When she was younger she predicted pirates coming here in droves and then the great pirate era began!"

Luffy and Usopp look at her in shock. "What?!"

Rose giggles. "Unlike me she's able to know the future for the rest of her life if she wanted while I only have a few pieces of the future left. Hey Camie, do you know what she meant when she talked about a vision of me?"

Camie nods. "She's had a lot of visions over her life. She even saw the war and Whitebeard's death. You however managed to change her vision."

She blinks in shock. "I changed her vision?!"

She nods. "She saw Ace's fate in the war long before the war was even announced to the world. However, when she looked into her crystal ball a few days before the battle her vision of the war's outcome changed and she saw you saving him. She also saw you surviving the ordeal. I was really happy when she told me."

Rose blinks in surprise before smiling. "Wow, that's-" She freezes when she felt Luffy's hand intertwine with hers.

She turns and sees him looking at the ground softly. (Luffy…) She gently squeezes his hand while Camie keeps going.

"She was tired of seeing terrible things in advance, so she stopped looking into the future ever since she saw what happened in the war…"

The others nod in understanding when they reach the main entrance of the Mermaid café. "Here it is guys! The mermaid café!"

Luffy recovers then grins at the café in excitement. "Awesome! I can't wait to eat!"

"It's a café not a restaurant Luffy!" Usopp says.

"There's plenty of food though! They have cakes and ocean fruits." Camie says.

Luffy tilts his head. "What about meat?"

She shakes her head. "Mermaids don't eat meat or fish. We have scallop sandwiches, clam pizza… Wait, we do have shellfish meat!"

"Shellfish isn't meat!"

Rose giggles. "Relax Luffy, you'll get some meat later."

Usopp nods. "Let's just head in-"

"Come back again soon Soul King!" The door opens to Brook with a mermaid under each arm while Pappagg is sitting on his shoulder.

"Brook! Starfish!" Luffy lets go of Roses hand and runs up to Brooks group while the others followed.

"So this was where you were Brook!" Usopp says.

"Glad you guys made it." Rose says.

Brook looks at them. "Guys, I'm glad you're alright. Camie-san, aren't you all for sore eyes. Though I don't have any eyes. YOHOHOHO!"

Camie giggles. "It's good to see you too Brook-chin."

Pappagg looks at Rose, Usopp, and Luffy in shock then tears well up in his eyes. "I've missed you guys! All of you are really here!" He jumps off to hug Rose. "I can't believe you really survived! Don't you dare scare people like that again!"

She giggles as she hugs him back. "I'll do my best not to. It's great to see you too Pappagg."

Both mermaids kiss Brook on the cheek.

"You'll come back sometime won't you Soul King?" One of the mermaids ask.

Usopp's mouth dropped to the ground at the sight. (What the hell?!)

Brook joyfully laughs. "Yohohoho! Of course I will! Being here has brought a fuzzy feeling in my heart." He starts twirling around happily while the mermaids head inside. "Of course I don't have a heart! Yohohoho! I'm so happy I could die but I'm already dead!"

Usopp looks at him in shock. "He turned into Sanji!"

Luffy turns to Rose in shock. "What happened to him in there?!"

"Your guess is as good as mine. I'm just grateful his nose's not bleeding. Hey Brook, what's your blood type?"

He stops spinning then tilts his head in thought. "Back when I was alive I was blood type G. Why do you ask?"

"Just curious."

Pappagg jumps off of Roses embrace. "Hey guys, do you want to come with us? I was planning on showing Brook my place on Gyovalley Hill. I'll treat you to some sea monster meat?"

Luffy looks at him with stars in his eyes. "Seriously?! I'm in!"

The others nod while Camie goes into her shell bag. "Oh Pappagg, here's a clam."

He grins in excitement as he takes her clam. "Yay! Thanks Camie!" He eats the clam while hailing for a taxi when Brook sees a wanted poster posted on the wall and stares at it in shock.

"What's the?! This is Vander Decken! Why is a ghost on a wanted poster?!"

A giant fish taxi arrived while Usopp looks at it in shock. "You're right, that's the guy we met before the volcanoes erupted."

Pappagg looks at them in shock. "What?! You guys met Vander Decken?! The whole country is after him!"

Rose uses her wind to get everyone on board the taxi while he keeps explaining. "That guy has been stalking out princess for years. First he sent her love letters, then packages which lead to marriage proposals that were full of blackmail! The princess was terrified."

Camie nods. "She was so scared that King Neptune sent his sons to find him. They still haven't found him even with the royal army…"

Pappagg sweat drops. "Um, Camie I was doing the explaining..."

Brook starts shaking in fear. "What I'm more worried about is whether Vander Decken is really the cursed pirate from hundreds of years ago…"

Pappagg shakes his head. "The legend was blown out of proportion. Vander Decken did exist but he wound up on here and died. The ship you guys saw was probably the same ship. The captain however was his descendent-"

"Vander Decken the 9th." Camie says causing Pappagg to sit on the far end of the ship with a cloud of depression hanging over his head.

"Camie, I was explaining…"

Rose pats his head while Brook looks at Camie in shock.

"That was his descendant?! Thank goodness, I thought we met a ghost for a moment. It scared the living daylights out of me. Though I'm already dead!"

Luffy looks around the island when he sees a tall building with a jolly roger that has curly hair and lipstick on the skull. "What's that?"

Pappagg recovers from the depression then heads over to Luffy's side of the taxi with Rose.

"That's the sweets factory."

"Not that, I mean the pirate flag. Why's it on the building?"

Pappagg nods. "The flag's protecting our island. It belongs to the yonko Big Mom. Whitebeard was the one protecting us before he died but after the war she took over."

Rose sighs. "Is it true you guys have to give her sweets in order to protect you guys?"

He nods. "Without a powerful name like hers to protect us our country would collapse. Compared to that it's a small price to pay."

Luffy grins as he relaxes in his seat. "If she's protecting you guys like Whitebeard did she must be a good person right?"

Pappagg sighs. "You could say that, though Whitebeard never asked for anything in return… To Big Mom this is more of a business deal…"

Luffy nods. "Still, she must be pretty strong to be a yonko like Shanks. I'd love to meet her."

Rose bites her lip but keeps quiet. (If she wasn't so unreasonable with the deal with Fishman Island… From what I've read so far she doesn't seem like someone we should be meeting…)

"Hey Rose you ok? Do you know what Big Mom's like?"

She snaps out of it to Luffy's voice then grins. "I'm fine. I've heard a few things. She's a scary, but strong woman I'll give her that."

He nods while Usopp rushes to the window. "Hey guys, look over there!"

The other look around to see that they're surrounded by fancy buildings all around them.

Pappagg grins. "Welcome to the home of the rich and the famous guys! This is Gyovalley Hills!"

Camie looks ahead in excitement. "That large mansion in front of us is Pappaggs house!"

Usopp points to Pappagg in shock. "This little starfish owns all of that?!"

The others grin in excitement while making their way to the town while Rose stares at the district. (Alright, if we're going by the manga we'll be able to find Nami here! No doubt things are gonna get interesting.)

She enjoys the view then freezes when she realizes that she forgot someone. (WHAT HAPPENED TO ACE?!)

TO BE CONTINUED


	37. Chapter 37

_The first day of training in observation haki has begun for Ace and Luffy on Rusukaina Island as they stand in front of Rayleigh waiting for instructions._

 _"Alright, in order for you guys to learn how to sense the presence of others you need to learn how to not rely on your eyesight." He walks up to the boys with two blindfolds and wraps them around their heads._

 _After securing the blindfolds he continues while grabbing a stick. "I'm going to spar with each of you while you're blindfolded so you can learn to sense my movements. Ace, you go first."_

 _Ace nods as he steps forward and gets in a stance. "Ready Rayleigh?"_

 _He grins while infusing his stick with armament haki. "Yup, I'll try not to be too rough. And remember, you can't use your devil fruit powers."_

 _He nods with a smirk. "Like I need them." He charges at Rayleigh who easily dodged then whacked Ace in the back of the head with the stick._

 _He chuckles while watching Ace get up. "What was that about 'like I need them'?"_

 _He grits his teeth as he keeps trying to take a swing at Rayleigh who is easily dodging while hitting him with the stick._

 _Luffy lifts his blindfold to watch the fight and chuckles._

 _Rayleigh turns to Luffy. "Don't laugh Luffy, you're ne-"_

 _He was cut off by a punch in the face courtesy of Ace and was knocked to the ground._

 _Ace smirks while Rayleigh looks at him in shock as he gets up. "Hope I wasn't 'too rough'."_

 _Rayleigh smirks. (No doubt his cockiness matches his fathers.) "Not bad, let's see what else you got."_

 _He nods and charges at him and gives it all he has while taking in Rayleigh's blows. He keeps going until he was whacked in the gut by Rayleigh's stick and was sent flying head first through a tree._

 _Ace sits up while rubbing his aching head and Luffy rolls over the ground while laughing._

 _"Shishi- OW!" He was whacked in the head by Rayleigh causing him to rub the aching lump._

 _"I told you not to laugh. You're up next. Ace, watch and learn."_

 _Ace groans while taking off his blindfold and watches Luffy and Rayleigh's match. (So Roger's first mate is this strong…) He stares at the fight and waited for his turn to fight as the routine continued for the rest of the day._

 _Later that night the three men gathered around a campfire and started eating the meat that they caught earlier. Once Luffy finished eating he started staring at the stars with an unreadable expression causing Ace to follow his gaze._

 _"Since when were you a star gazer Lu?"_

 _He snaps out of his daze and grins. "Rose kind of got me into it." He gets up and puts on his blindfold. "I'm gonna go train for a bit."_

 _Rayleigh nods. "Go ahead. Try not to overdo it."_

 _He nods as he walks off to face the animals in the jungle._

 _Ace follows Luffy with his stare until he can no longer see him then sighs. "Will he really be ok?"_

 _Rayleigh sighs as he grabs his canister and takes a swig of his liquor. "Losing someone close is always tough. I'm sure he'll pull through though. It's funny, he kind of reminds me of Roger."_

 _Ace tenses up at the mention of his father's name. "How so?"_

 _"Luffy has that carefree grin Roger had. He also has that aura that drives others to support him. Not to mention he's as reckless in a fight as he is childish. The day he and Rouge separated was one of the few times I've seen him upset too-" He freezes to find himself rambling then chuckles as he rubs the back of his head. "Sorry about that. I'm sure you don't want to hear anything about Roger."_

 _He shakes his head. "No, it's alright. There's actually something about Roger I want to ask you."_

 _He blinks in surprise before grinning. "Ask away."_

 _He stares at the campfire in thought for a moment before facing him with a scowl. "If Roger loved Rouge then why did he leave her?"_

 _He looks at him softly before sighing. (Should've known he would ask. It must've been hard being raised by Garp…) "Roger left in order to protect her. He had an incurable illness and decided to disband the crew quietly in order to protect everyone. In the end he turned himself in."_

 _Ace widens his eyes at the information while Rayleigh continued. "I didn't find out that Rouge was having you until the day he turned himself in. He told me he wanted Garp to take care of you because he wanted you to be free to live however you wished whether it was pirate or marine. Heh, he was selfish to the end. In my opinion though, I think both Rouge and Roger would be happy with the path you followed." He took another swig from his canister while Ace stared at him and processed this information._

 _"AAAAH!" Both guys turn to the sound of Luffy's screaming and hear animal roars coming from the same direction._

 _Ace groans as he gets up. "I'll go take care of him!"_

 _Rayleigh nods while Ace runs off in Luffy's direction._

 _Ace keeps his fists clenched as he runs through the jungle. (So that's what happened to him… "Roger's human just like anyone else here, same goes for his kid.") He chuckles at remembering what Rukia told him as a kid. "I'm such an idiot... Guess I really am Roger's son after all." He keeps a soft grin on his face until he finds Luffy and helps him fight off the wild animals._

* * *

Ace is sleeping on a long red couch with a soft grin before slowly waking up. He sits up to find his black cowboy hat right next to him and looks around to find himself in a blue coral apartment. "What the-"

"Ah, so you're back among the living are you pyro?" Ace turns to see a tall, middle aged, muscular, green ray fish man with buzz cut black hair, a blue tank top, red shorts, and a diagonal claw scar decorating the left side of his neck walking out of the kitchen with a friendly grin and a cup of tea in his hand.

Ace looks at him in shock before grinning. "Cato?! How long has it been?!"

"Far too long if you ask me. Take this, it'll warm you up." He gives him the cup of tea.

Ace nods before drinking it then freezes. "Wait, did you see my brother or any of his crewmembers?!"

He shakes his head. "Sorry, I only saw you trapped in the current. I'm sure they'll be fine though."

He nods before relaxing. "Thanks for getting me out. So, what have you been up to?"

"Just the usual shipwright stuff. What about you? I heard you disappeared after the war."

"I was training under Rayleigh in haki along with my little brother."

He whistles. "Impressive. Speaking of little brothers have you heard anything from Namur?"

He shakes his head. "No, I was going to call the crew as soon as I reached the island. Why do you ask?"

"I've been trying to contact him, but his den den mushi has been disconnected."

He widens his eyes at this then gets up. "Do you have one with you? I can try calling Marco."

He nods as he gets his den den mushi and hands it to him.

Ace dials Marco's number but there wasn't an answer. "That's weird. Marco always answers his den den mushi…" (Damnit, what the hell happened these past two years?!)

Cato bites his lip. "I don't think Namur or the other commanders were caught or else there would have been an announcement. Still, I'm worried."

"Me too… What can you tell me about Blackbeard Cato?"

Cato looks at him softly before taking a seat at the living room chair adjacent to the couch. "You should sit down. You're not gonna like what you hear."

Ace clenches his teeth before nodding and sitting back on the couch. "Go ahead."

"After the war Blackbeard invaded half of Whitebeard's territory and took over. If Big Mom hadn't taken Fishman Island first we likely would've been under his control. Later on, he took Whitebeard's place in the yonko. Right now he's travelling the New World with a fleet almost as large as Whitebeards… I'm sorry Ace…"

Ace kept his fists clenched during the whole story. (This can't be happening… And Big Mom's controlling the island?!) He ran a hand through his hair in frustration then froze. "What about the New Fishman Pirates?"

Cato widens his blue eyes in shock then sighs. "I'm surprised that you heard of them. They've taken over the Fishman District. They tend to attack only humans, but they don't take kindly to fishmen who sympathize with humans either… Why do you ask?"

"We had a run in with them before we got lost in the current. They told us to either join them or die."

His eyes widen at this. "Damnit that explains why there haven't been as many humans in the port town as there usually is!" He runs a hand through his hair in frustration. "I still have some connections with the royal guard. Even though I retired I can still help out."

He nods. (Poor guy, he cares about Fishman Island more than anyone…) He sighs when a question pops up in his head. "Do you know anything about what happened to Jimbei?!"

"He's ok. After he resigned from the Shichibukai he and the others from the Sun Pirates weren't allowed to stay on the main island anymore. He's hiding out at the Sea Forest. I let him know about the things that happen on the island. I can take you there if you want."

He slowly nods before getting up and grabbing his hat. (I have to see what's happened for myself!) He places his hat on before meeting Cato at the door. "Thanks Cato."

"Don't thank me yet. We need to get you through the town."

They walk out into the port town Coral Hill where mermaids are surrounding the guards and the three princes.

One of the fish guards look at them in shock. "You're saying that mermaids have been kidnapped at the cove?!"

Tara nods. "One of those mermaids was Lizzie! It has to have been that perv Rose warned us about!"

May nods. "Please, you have to find him!"

Ace looks at them in shock. (Rose warned them about a perv? Was it the mud man we locked in a barrel?)

Cato pats him on the shoulder causing him to snap out of his thoughts. "What's the matter Ace?"

"You know the girl from another world that was stabbed at the war? She's alive and is on the island."

"What?!"

He nods. "I think they're talking about her right now." He and Cato turn their attention back to the crowd.

The guard shakes his head at the girls. "You girls know that Wind Rider Rose's not like other humans. She's the demon that invaded the war two years ago. What makes you think she didn't tell you about the barrel in order to lure you into a trap?"

May shakes her head. "She wouldn't do that! She was really helpful to us!"

Another guard looks at her in confusion. "Helpful how?"

May looks at them nervously. "Um well…" (I can't let them know Tara, Lizzie and I are looking into the comet!)

Another mermaid floats up on her bubble. "Does that matter? We don't think the kidnapper was with Rose and the other Straw Hats. After all, they're Camie's friends!"

He shakes his head. "They could have threatened her. At any rate, the fact of the matter is that the only ones seen in the vicinity were the mermaids, royal guards, the defeated ruffians from the Fishman District and the Straw Hats. Even if the outsider did warn you it's more than likely that man was a part of the crew and was following a plan to kidnap you. Humans always act nice in the beginning only to kidnap mermaids and escape. There's nothing different between those pirates and the one's we're dealing with."

Another guard nods in agreement. "All humans have motives to kidnap mermaids, and the demon girl is no exception. This was all probably her idea. You can't trust any of them."

Ace clenches his fists as he starts walking up to the crowd but Cato holds him back, half drags him away from the crowd and into an alley where they can't be seen. "You can't be doing anything stupid Ace!"

"He's insulting my brother's crew. What do you want me to do?"

"Look, take it easy. The mermaid cove is on the way to the Sea Forest. If the kidnapper really isn't a part of the crew then he's more than likely to still be there."

Ace widens his eyes at this before nodding. "That's a good idea. Let's get him before anyone else gets hurt and clear their names."

Cato nods as they start heading out while Fuukaboshi swims up to Madame Shirley who's sitting on a sea sponge trying to calm herself down from the vision she had after Luffy's group left.

"Madame Shirley, please tell us what you saw."

She slowly nods while lightly panting. "I knew I shouldn't have looked into the crystal ball, but I felt something from the straw hat boy that made me want to look into his future. That was when I saw it. Straw Hat Luffy is going to be the one to destroy Fishman Island…"

"Are you absolutely certain?"

She slowly nods as she takes a glass of water from one of the mermaids. "Yes, it was beyond a doubt the truth…"

Fuukaboshi nods. "This is unfortunate… I had intended to meet his crew as honored guests for saving my sister's pet, but it's clearly not the best decision to allow them to roam freely. We need to take protective measures before more innocent people get hurt. Brothers, guards, please come with me."

Both Mamboshi and Ryuboshi follow their brother along with the guards while the mermaids and citizens of Fishman Island are left to their increasing worries.

* * *

Cato and Ace manage to walk out of the town without causing a scene and caught a fish taxi to head to the mermaid cove.

Ace stares at Big Mom's insignia on the sweets factory softly. "Cato, how bad was it after Pops died?"

He follows Ace's stare at the flag then sighs. "It was chaos at first. Jimbei managed to help us hold off most of the slave traders for a while before having to hide. Once Big Mom decided to place her flag on our island things were almost back to normal. The only difference really now is that we have to supply her with a giant amount of sweets…"

Ace looks at the island sadly before turning to him. "I'm-"

Ace was cut off by a whack to the head. He groans while rubbing his head. "What the hell was that for?!"

"For getting ready to apologize! Whitebeard, Namur and the others didn't go to that war to make you feel guilty. If you want to make it up to everyone then live and do what you can to help. If I hear anything close to an apology I'll kick your pyro ass!"

He stares at him for a moment before chuckling. "I'll keep that in mind. How much longer until we reach the cove?"

"A few more minutes. So, it's true that the girl came back? That's nuts."

He nods then chuckles. "You don't know the half of it. She's dating my little brother and still knows future events."

He widens his eyes in shock then laughs. "Wow, that _is_ nuts. So she knows stuff like Madame Shirley?"

He shakes his head. "She said it was only temporary."

"Good luck to her when it stops then."

Ace's smile starts to fade as he slowly nods. "She's gonna need it..." (Even after Rose stops knowing what'll happen she's gonna be seen as a demon here for the rest of her life. I'm sure she knows how tough it'll be from now on and it's all because she saved me… Cato's right, I have to do what I can to protect her and Luffy. The least I can do as a bro-)

"Here we are." Ace snaps out of it from Cato's voice to see the taxi approaching the mermaid cove.

After paying the fare Ace and Cato left to search the area.

"So how will we find this guy?" Cato asks.

"I think it's best if we split up. This guy's a logia user so I hope those years after leaving the royal guard haven't made you go soft."

He smirks as he grabs a long, skinny piece of pink coral and turns it black with haki. "The only thing that might have gone soft is your thick head pyro. I'll go left and you head right."

He nods as the two split up in separate directions.

Ace walks up to a reef cliff 10 feet high and looks to see a few mermaids about to leave the cove while Caribou sneaks up from behind while turning his arms into mud.

"What a nice catch of the day! Hahaha!" The girls turn around in horror and scream as the mud was about to reach them but a wall of fire blocks the mud from them.

"AAAAHHHHH!" Caribou turns his arms back to normal while shaking his arms to ease the burn until he used the mud to cool down. He turns in horror to see Ace glaring at him while the mermaids make a swim for it.

He jumps off the reef and lands in front of him with his arms ablaze. "Give back the mermaids and you won't get burned."

He sweat drops before nodding as he lets Lizzie and 5 other passed out mermaids out of his mud before smirking. "That sounds like a fair deal. I have a new deal for you." He lets Zira's head out of his right hand to show him her passed face while keeping the rest of her, beak and the rest of her body trapped.

He looks at her in shock. "Zira?!"

Caribou snickers as he looks at her face. "So that's the howler monkeys name. I couldn't learn it when I had to shut her screeches up."

Ace growls as he gets ready to give him a fireball but he holds Zira in front of him. "Ah, ah, wouldn't want to accidentally roast the pretty bird now would you?"

He grits his teeth before extinguishing his flames.

Caribou laughs while turning his left hand into mud. "This is gonna be too easy! Who needs mermaids when I gain a new reputation by killing Port-?"

*THWACK!*

Caribou's ugly smirk was frozen in place when Cato whacked him on the back of the hear with the coral. "Oww…" He falls forward over unconscious and accidentally releases his hold on Zira.

Cato smirks as he picks Caribou up by the collar and kicks Caribou in the gut to send him flying to the canyon wall. "Ugly bastard."

He gently picks up Zira then walks over to Ace and hands her over to him while keeping his smirk. "I didn't think you had a soft spot for birds."

"Shut up! She's a part of Luffy's crew!"

"Ugh…" Zira groans as she starts regaining consciousness and looks up to see Ace. "ACE!" She tackles his face and wraps her wings around his head while crying comical tears. "Thanks for saving me! The swamp donkey was so gross! He smelled like swamp BO!"

Cato snickers at the view of Zira smothering Ace while he grabs Zira so he could breathe then holds her in front of him. "He didn't hurt you right?"

She shakes her head. "Besides knocking me out he didn't do anything else. Wait, the mermaids!"

She looks to see the mermaids passed out but unharmed. "Good, they're ok. Hey, who's the fishman?"

Cato smiles as he casually waves. "The name's Cato. I'm a friend of pyro over here."

Ace groans while Zira snickers at the nickname. "Thanks for helping me out of there. Wait, where's the perv?!"

Both guys look at the reef wall to see that Caribou escaped.

Ace groans in frustration. "Damnit, he must've came to and escaped while we weren't looking."

Cato rakes a hand in his hair. "Sorry Ace, at least when the mermaids wake up we can clear your brother's name."

Zira widens her eyes in shock. "Clear his name?! What the hell happened when I was kidnapped?!"

"When the mermaids got kidnapped the royal guard assumed that Luffy and the others did it." Ace says.

Zira widens her eyes. "Are you serious?! Damnit, this must've been what Rose wanted to prevent…"

Ace quirks an eyebrow. "You talked to Rose?"

She nods. "Luffy, Usopp, Sanji, Chopper, Rose and I were found together. We hung out at the mermaid cove for a bit while Rose and I went to go find the barrel the perv was in so that the mermaids wouldn't open it. Sadly, I was too late in finding it and got taken while protecting some mermaids…"

Ace softly grins as he pets her head. "It's not your fault Zira. Do you know where the others went?"

She nods while getting out of Ace's embrace and onto his shoulder "Rose said something about heading to Neptune's castle."

Ace and Cato both widen their eyes at this before Ace face palms. "Crap, they're gonna get caught by Neptune's army!"

Zira shakes her head. "I'm sure they'll be fine. We can clear their names after all."

Ace sighs before nodding. "That's true. Things are still gonna go crazy if we don't hurry…"

Cato hails a fish taxi and carries each mermaid inside. "I'll get the girls to safety then go to the castle and tell them what happened. I'll make sure the guards don't arrest your brother and his crew. Here you go." After gently placing the last mermaid in the taxi he hands Ace a vivre card. "This is Jimbei's vivre card. You should talk to him before letting yourself be seen on the island."

Ace nods as he takes the card in his hand. "Thanks Cato."

He nods with a grin before getting in the taxi and leaves the cove.

Zira grins. "He seems nice. How exactly do you know him?"

"He's my crewmate's older brother. He retired from the royal guard to become one of the greatest shipwrights on the island. Pops asked him to join, but he wants to use his fighting abilities to protect the island."

Zira nods. "That's fair. So we're seeing Jimbei the former warlord?! What's he like?!"

"You're about to find out now. Let's get going before Luffy and Rose turn the island upside down."

Zira nods as they leave while Caribou is hiding behind a reef and panting from exhaustion then clenches his teeth.

"Damnit! Not only couldn't I get revenge on the phantom, but I lost my mermaids!" He slams his fist against the reef before freezing.

"Wait, they said there will be chaos at the castle right? Then that means Neptune's treasure is up for the taking…" His expression immediately changes into a smirk as he turns his body into mud. (Hahaha! Who needs mermaids when I can just take the gold from under the royal's noses! Perfect!)

He softly chuckles as his whole body becomes a mud puddle and he slithers out of the cove without being noticed by anyone.

* * *

An hour earlier at Gyovalley hills Luffy's group has just exited the fish taxi in front of Pappaggs mansion.

Everyone but Camie looks at the giant house in shock while Pappagg jumps in front of the group. "Here's my house guys!"

Luffy looks at it in shock. "It's huge!"

Brook widens his eyeholes. "Such a large place for a small starfish…"

Pappagg laughs. "Ohohoho! Did I shock you guys? I might only be a stylish starfish in the world above but here I'm the president of the Criminal Brand Company! Our stores can be found in-"

Luffy points to another building while ignoring Pappagg. "What's that over there Camie?"

Camie floats up to them. "That's the criminal brand store."

"WHY IS EVERYTHING HERE SO EXPENSIVE?! I KNOW IT'S CUTE BUT THIS IS RIDICULOUS!"

The group freezes as they hear a customer yelling from the store.

"Looks like someone's making a scene in the store." Camie says as the group starts heading to the store.

Usopp widens his eyes. "Hold on, was that voice who I think it was?"

Rose nods. "You guessed right." She opens the door for them to find Nami complaining to the sales representative at the register with a large pile of clothes in front of her.

"Listen here, I'll pay 10 thousand beli and nothing more!"

The sales rep raises his arms defensively. "Please be reasonable miss! That's under half the price!"

Usopp sweat drops. "Why am I not surprised?"

Luffy and Camie wave as the group approaches them.

"Hey Nami!" Luffy says.

Camie floats up to Nami. "Hi Nami-chin!"

Camie turns to them. "Camie!" She hugs her while the sales rep runs up to Pappagg in desperation.

"You have impeccable timing Monsieur Pappagg! We have a problem you see-"

Camie cuts him off as she goes up to Pappagg and pulls his cheek. "So this is your shop? What's with these prices?!"

He groans as he tries to get out of her grip. "You see, it's a luxury designer brand and I'm a famous designer so-"

"Bring them down!"

"Oh come on!" He groans as he finally frees his cheek. "Look, forget the prices. I owe you guys for what you did two years ago, so you and the others can take whatever you want free of charge."

Nami's scowl immediately changes to a smile with stars in her eyes. "Really?! Great!"

She and the others except Rose run around the store to grab what they want.

Pappagg turns to her curiously. "You don't want anything?"

She shakes her head with a soft grin. "Thanks for the offer, but I'm fine. Besides, there's nothing left to take." She points to the giant bags that Luffy, Nami, Usopp and Brook are carrying on their backs.

Camie grins at them. "Wasn't that nice of him?"

Nami nods while the sales clerk looks at Pappagg nervously. "Monsieur Pappagg, the store is empty…"

Pappaggs eyes bug out in shock. "HAVEN'T YOU GUYS HEARD OF RESTRAINT?!"

Rose giggles when they start hearing yelling outside.

Brook blinks in confusion. "What's going on?"

One of Pappagg's other employee's runs up to them. "Monsieur Pappagg! It's terrible!"

He looks at him in confusion. "What's wrong?"

"Something's happening!"

He twitches an eyebrow in irritation. "That's not an explanation! What are you talking about?!"

"Just come outside!"

The group follows him outside to see a whale floating down from the sky.

Luffy looks at him in shock. "Whoa, the whale's huge!"

Pappagg looks at it in shock. "HE CAME HERE FROM THE PALACE?!"

Nami looks at him in confusion. "Who's here?"

Rose grins. "King Neptune."

"WHAT?!" The crew looks at her in shock while Pappagg, Camie, and the other fish men look at the descending whale in fear.

"I've never seen him in person before…" Camie says as she goes behind Rose while a giant muscular merman with a fluffy white beard covering the lower half of his face lands on his whale in front of the group.

Usopp looks at him in shock. "That's one big merman."

Brook nods. "I think I prefer mermaids over mermen…"

"This shaggy old dude's the king?" Luffy asks causing Pappagg to pull his cheek.

"Show some respect!"

The surrounding fishmen look at them nervously while the shark Luffy saved from Surume swims next to Neptune.

Megalo turns to him. "Megalo, you sure these are the humans in question?"

He nods.

Nami looks at him in shock. "Isn't that the shark Luffy made Surume cough up?"

Rose nods. "He's princess Shirahoshi's pet."

Nami looks at her in shock. "Are you serious?!"

"Yup."

Neptune nods as he turns to the crew. "Straw Hat humans! I invite you to join me at my palace to thank you for rescuing my daughter's friend."

Camie and Pappagg look at them in shock while the others nod.

Luffy steps up with a toothy grin. "Sounds good to me."

Megalo lands in front of the group and they climb aboard before both the whale and shark make their way to the palace.

Neptune chuckles as everyone looks around in excitement. "Hohoho! Be careful not to fall now."

Rose nods as she sits right behind Luffy. "I'll make sure no one falls."

He nods. "I want to thank you all again for rescuing Megalo. When we thought that he might never return my daughter was nearly inconsolable. It gave us a real shock that the kraken almost ate him."

Luffy chuckles as he sits cross legged on Megalo's head. "Shishishi, it was just a coincidence. Glad he made it all the same."

Camie looks around nervously. "Is it really ok for us to be coming with you guys to the palace?"

Usopp nods. "I don't see why not. You and Pappagg are our friends after all."

Neptune nods then widens his eyes. "That's right, I forgot to tell you all. One of your crewmates is already waiting for us in the palace."

Nami looks at him in confusion. "Really?"

He nods. "When I left he already started drinking. I tried to tell him to wait, but he wouldn't listen."

Brook sweat drops. "So Zoro-san has made it to the palace I see."

He tilts his head in thought. "As for your other companions I expect my soldiers to locate them and bring them there as soon as possible."

Usopp nods before turning to Nami. "Hey Nami, do you know where the others went?"

She nods. "Franky said he was searching for some relatives of someone named Tom, and Robin walked off saying she was looking for some historical information."

Rose turns to her. "Do you know where Ace went?"

She shakes her head. "Sorry, I haven't seen him. I'm kind of surprised you don't know where he is."

Rose sighs while running a gloved hand through her hair. "When it comes to Ace after the crew reunites it's all completely new. I'm positive he's ok, but he could be anywhere from the main island to the Fishman District…" (I really hope that isn't the case… Wherever he is he's not gonna like what he learns about what happened these past 2 years…)

Luffy stretched an arm around Roses waist and pulled her next to him on Megalo's head.

Rose looks at him in shock with a small blush on her face while he chuckles with a toothy grin. "Shishishi, you worry too much. If you're sure Ace is fine then he'll find us when he's ready."

She widens her eyes for a moment before ginning and adjusting herself so she sits comfortably next to him as he keeps his arm around her. "Yea, you're right."

They both grin at each other while staring into each other's eyes when they snap out of it to Usopp's snickering. "Just get a room already guys."

They both turn around to see Nami whacking him on the head. "You idiot, they were gonna kiss!"

Rose face palms while trying to hide her blush. (Nami's the biggest shipper in existence…)

Luffy tilts his head in confusion before turning to Rose. "Why would we need a room Rose?"

The blush on her face starts to double. "You don't need to know!" (Damnit Usopp, I'm gonna kick your ass when this is over!)

Camie, Pappagg and Brook laugh at the scene in front of them while they reach the entrance to the castle right above them.

"It looks like we're here." Neptune reaches up for the intercom. "It is I, let me and my guests in."

The gate starts opening up while Neptune creates a bubble around Megalo. "The entry way is submerged in water so make sure the bubble doesn't pop."

Neptune swims up with his whale with Megalo following.

Everyone grins in excitement as they make it past the entry way and Fishman Palace comes into view.

"Whoa! This is so cool!" Luffy says with stars in his eyes.

"What a beautiful place!" Nami says while Camie is speechless.

Rose nods in agreement as she looks around in awe. "Amazing!"

Brook looks around in astonishment. "This place puts Pappagg-san's house to shame."

Pappagg weeps. "Don't compare my house to a royal palace!"

The others softly laugh as they make it into the palace and get off of Megalo.

Luffy keeps looking around in excitement. "Whoa! What a fun looking place!"

Neptune nods. "Please make yourselves comfortable while waiting for your other crewmates to arrive."

The others nod when some of Neptune's retainers swam up to him furiously.

"How many times must we remind you to be aware of your position?! If something were to happen to you there would have been dire consequences! Don't you know what type of position you're putting yourself in by going off alone without telling anyone?!"

Neptune bows his head in shame. "I'm sorry…"

The others sweat drop. (The king gets scolded by his retainers?)

Rose holds back a chuckle when she felt Luffy's hand grabbing hers as he starts walking off with her without the others noticing.

She quirks an eyebrow in confusion. "What's the matter Luffy?"

He turns to her with a toothy grin while walking. "When Usopp said 'get a room' he meant a room to eat right? I smell some food this way."

Rose widens her eyes before face palming. (This guy always has food in his brain… Oh well, at least he's not pressing me about what Usopp meant.) She looks around to avoid his gaze while they keep walking. "R-really? Great, let's go."

He nods with a toothy grin as they were about to turn a corner but jump back to hide from the guards that are leaving a room with giant empty food carts. After the coast is clear the two pirates walk up to the pair of giant doors that has years of scratches on it and axes still hanging from the door.

Luffy looks up in awe. "Whoa, these doors are huge! The food must be behind here. Is this the banquet hall?"

She shakes her head as she stares at the doors with a grin. (So this is Shirahoshi's room… COOL!) "This isn't the banquet hall but there's food in there."

"That's all I need to know!" He lets go of her hand to start opening the door.

(I don't think Shirahoshi would like us running on her body.) She flies next to him to help him then uses her wind to get the two of them flying into the dark room and in front of the food.

Luffy looks at the food in excitement. "Awesome! Hey Rose, do you know if there's a light around-"

"Who are you two?!"

Rose and Luffy turn n shock to see a giant cute pink haired mermaid turning on the light and staring at them with tears in her eyes.

Rose stares up at her with wide eyes. (Wow, I knew Shirahoshi was big but I didn't expect this big.)

Luffy looks at her in shock. "Whoa! It's a giant per- I mean mermaid!"

Tears keep building up in Shirahoshi's eyes as she tries to glare at them. "Identify yourselves! You're here to make an attempt on my life aren't you?! W-well I'm not scared of…" She couldn't hold back anymore as she starts crying. "WAAAH! FATHER-SAMA! BIG BROTHER-SAMA! WAAAH!"

Luffy raises his hands defensively. "Oi, wait! We're not here to hurt you! Quit crying!"

(Oh crap, I hate seeing people cry!) Rose places Luffy on the bed while avoiding her giant tears then frantically flies in front of her face while waving her arms and looking around the room for a way to cheer her up. "Don't cry Shirahoshi! Don't cry! U-umm…"

She freezes and gives the princess her best performing grin. "Watch this!" She uses her wind to pick up some of the smaller pieces of meat then starts juggling them and moving them around her with various loops and spins to make it look like it's flying on a roller coaster.

Shirahoshi starts sniffling while tears stop streaming down her face then grins as she watches the show when the food being juggled disappears one by one causing her eyes to widen in shock. "How did you do that?!"

"Huh?" Rose looks at her wind in confusion while juggling to see Luffy continuously grabbing the food until she wasn't juggling anymore. "Luffy! I was using that for my performance!"

Luffy finishes eating the last one before rubbing the back of his head. "Sorry about that. The way you were making them fly made them look more tasty."

(I should've known not to use meat...) Rose groans while face palming before Shirahoshi giggles at what happened.

"That was fun! Are you two traveling performers?"

Rose shakes her head with a grin as she keeps floating in front of her. "Luffy's not, but I guess you can say that about me. I used to be a street performer, but now I'm a pirate. He's a pirate too. My name's Rose by the way."

She widens her eyes. "You two are-"

She's cut off by the sound of a giant axe flying into the room. Before Rose can deflect it Luffy jumps up in front of them, grabs the axe by the blunt side before it could hit him and pushes the trajectory to make it crash next to the bed.

Luffy lands on the bed while Rose uses her wind to pull the doors shut so no more axes can fly in.

(Damnit Decken, I hate that guy…) She turns to Luffy who's looking at the axe in confusion. "Great job moving the axe Luffy."

He nods. "Thanks, but what was that about?"

"It-"

"WHY'S THE PRINCESS CRYING?! DID ANOTHER AXE COME FLYING?!"

The three of them turn to the door that's about to open when Shirahoshi grabs Rose and Luffy in one hand and hides them behind her back with them facing each other while stuck in her hand.

The guards open the doors and run in.

"Are you alright princess?!"

"What happened?! Was there an intruder?!"

Shirahoshi looks at them nervously while Luffy squirms in her hand.

"Hey, let us-"

Rose cuts him off with a kiss on the lips to keep him quiet then pulls back with a grin before whispering. "We need to keep quiet Luffy."

He nods with a grin before returning the kiss while staying silent.

Shirahoshi nods to the guards. "I- I apologize for causing you alarm. I must have had a bad dream, that's all."

The guard nods. "I see, if that's the case then I'm most relieved. Ah, you need to know something as well in regards to Straw Hat Luffy and his companions. The situation has become a lot more complicated than we had hoped."

Luffy and Rose pull back from their kiss and listen intently as the guard continues.

"You see, under suspicion of kidnapping the mermaids the decision has been made to confine the Straw Hats to the dungeons. The swordsman who arrived earlier has already been locked away and a few of the others are being apprehended as we speak. The only problem is the captain Straw Hat Luffy and the outsider Wind Rider Rose who were both seen entering the palace have gone missing. Presumably they found out our intentions to arrest them and they hid somewhere in the palace. Fear not however, we will be sure to find them and apprehend them as well as the other crewmates scattered on the island. We must be leaving now. If you see anyone suspicious please inform us immediately."

Shirahoshi nods as they leave then puts Rose and Luffy on the bed in front of her.

Rose clenches her fists in frustration. (Damnit, Caribou must've escaped and kidnapped the mermaids! Wait, OH CRAP! WHAT IF HE HAS ZIRA?!) She runs a hand through her hair in frustration.

Luffy tilts his head. "You ok?"

She slowly nods. "Yea, the others can take on the guards. I'm just frustrated that Caribou still kidnapped the mermaids."

He nods. "We can beat the crap out of him when we get out of here."

She nods with a grin. "Sounds good to me."

Shirahoshi keeps her gaze on them. "Thank you for saving me and I'm sorry for the rudeness of the guards. Your names are Luffy-sama and Rose-sama correct?"

Both pirates nod.

"Since you're pirates does that make you bad people?"

Rose shrugs her shoulders while Luffy walks in front of the food. "You can decide that on your own. Can I eat this?"

Shirahoshi nods causing him to dig in as she turns to Rose. "Would it be alright if I ask you some questions Rose-sama?"

She nods with a grin. "If you can answer my questions about Fishman Island then you got a deal."

She eagerly nods as Rose flies in front of her with a notebook. (If things keep going like this then we should be leaving soon. I hope the island's ready for the chaos…)

The girls start exchanging questions as the chaos starts to break loose in the palace and starts to spread throughout the island.

TO BE CONTINUED


	38. Chapter 38

**A/N: Hey guys, it's been a while. I'm sorry for being MIA but things went nuts with school and the Halloween special I made for the story. I'm not going to do anything for Thanksgiving because that holiday isn't really fun, but I'm starting to work on a Christmas special. I might also consider doing something with the movies but no promises yet. The arc is going to continue going nuts from here and I hope you enjoy. :)**

* * *

Shirahoshi's pet shark Megalo swims into Shirahoshi's room to see Rose flying in front of the princess and eagerly jotting down the answers to her questions about the island while Luffy is eating the giant food in front of him.

Shirahoshi grins as she sees Megalo. "Hi Megalo!"

He grins as he floats over to them while the princess turns her attention back to Rose. "I can't believe you guys were the ones that saved Megalo. Will your friends be ok?"

Rose nods. "I'm sure they can handle themselves." (They should have taken care of the guards by now.)

Luffy swallows a giant piece of meat then turns to the girls. "What exactly was with that giant axe?"

Shirahoshi sighs. "I believe I know the man responsible… His name's Vander Decken- sama. He seems to have a grudge against me because I refused his marriage proposals… From what I know, he's cursed with the mark mark power. It allows him to target me at anytime no matter where he is. As such, I'm not permitted to leave Shell Tower for it would be too dangerous for me to go outside. I've been living here for ten years."

Rose look at her softly. "I'm sorry to hear that…"

She shakes her head. "It's ok, I have Megalo with me. He's my only friend in the world."

Luffy nods as he keeps eating. "So that's why your dad wanted to throw a party for us. Too bad it won't happen now."

Rose shrugs "These things happen."

Shirahoshi looks at Luffy curiously. "Do all human boys eat that much?"

Rose giggles then shakes her head. "Luffy's appetite is greater than that of a hundred men."

She nods then turns to Rose. "What about you Rose-sama? How is it that you're able to fly?"

"I ate a devil fruit called the wind wind fruit, meaning that my body is pretty much wind now. Watch!" She turns her body into wind and flies around the room.

Shirahoshi and Megalo look around in confusion until the brunette rematerialized on top of Megalo's head and raises her arms in the air. "Ta-dah!"

Megalo and Shirahoshi look at her in shock as she flies off of Megalo's head.

Shirahoshi's shock fades away into excitement as she applauds her. "That was amazing! Since you're a pirate does that means you go on things called adventures? Have you ever seen the sun? Also, did you ever see the flowers and animals? Oh wait, have you even been to a green place called the forest?"

Rose giggles before raising her hands defensively. "Easy, easy, one question at a time. First, we go on a lot of adventures, most of them are really fun but they can also be dangerous. We've also seen the sun, flowers and animals. We haven't been to a forest in a while but we've been there before. It's a really nice place."

She nods then noticed Luffy's cheeks growing as he's eating. "Did Luffy-sama eat a devil fruit too? His cheeks are so large."

She goes to poke his cheeks causing Roses eyes to widen. "Wait Shirahoshi, don't-"

It was too late as Shirahoshi pokes Luffy's cheek causing him to spit the food he was eating.

"DON'T DO THAT! WHAT WAS THAT FOR?!"

Shirahoshi freezes as tears start forming in her eyes. "I… I am sorry… Please don't shout at me… You're a really scary person Luffy-sama…"

Luffy looks at her in shock. "Whoa! Whoa! I wasn't trying to make you cry! Stop it!"

She keeps crying while Rose looks at them frantically. (Damnit, what the hell do I do here?!) She flies over to Shirahoshi. "Hey, it's ok. There's no need to cry."

Luffy sighs as he starts finishing the food. "Man, for someone so big you're a real crybaby. I don't think I like you very much."

Rose twitches an eyebrow in irritation before flying over to Luffy. "Luffy! You didn't need to say that!"

He shrugs as he keeps eating. "It's the truth though."

Megalo swims up to them angrily while Shirahoshi starts crying. "Th-that was so mean… You really are a bad person Luffy-sama… Please leave, both of you… WAAH!"

Luffy ignores the tension as he finishes the last of the food then grins at Shirahoshi. "Phew, that was good. Thanks for the food. Still, I'd hate to stay here for ten years. Hey crybaby, is there any place you want to go?"

The princess keeps tearing up as she looks down at them. "W-well, of course… There are many places I want to go, but…"

Luffy nods. "Let's go somewhere then. If anything comes flying at you I'll send it flying right back, so come on!"

She looks at him in shock. "Eh?! I-I couldn't possibly do that!"

Rose grins as she flies up. "Why not? We promise to bring you back safely, and since your dad wants Luffy and I arrested anyway we'll take the blame. Is there someplace you wanna go?"

Shirahoshi looks down nervously before facing them. "I… I would like to go to the Sea Forest…"

Rose looks at her softly. (Right, she wants to see her mom…) She softly grins at the princess before nodding. "In that case we should get going before any guards show up."

Shirahoshi shakes her head before tearing up. "Ah, no! It-it's just a dream. I can't possibly do something so selfish as leaving the tower…"

Luffy groans in frustration. "Why does saying where you want to go make you cry?!"

Shirahoshi starts crying again while Rose lands next to him. "Luffy, please take it easy on her."

He sighs in frustration. "Fine… So Rose, what's supposed to happen-" He was cut off to the sound of tremors.

Shirahoshi cowers in fear while Luffy, Rose and Megalo look around in shock.

"What the hell was that?!" Luffy asks.

Rose looks at the door in thought. "I'm not sure." (Didn't Decken throw something else at the tower? Damnit, what was it again? Maybe I should help out before Hody arrives.)

She starts flying to the door. "I'm gonna go make sure the others are ok."

"Wait!" Rose and Luffy turn to Shirahoshi's voice who's looking at them nervously. "… I've always longed to go to the Sea Forest, but everyone tells me that it's too dangerous for me to leave… But, if you both come with me I'll feel safe. Luffy-sama, Rose-sama, will you both please take me out of here and protect me?"

Luffy nods. "Yea, leave it to me!" He turns to Rose with a carefree grin. "The others are gonna be fine right Rose? So just come with us."

Rose runs a hand through her hair in thought. "They do manage to escape in the end, but-"

"Please come as well Rose-sama. I feel a lot less scared with you." Shirahoshi stares at Rose with big teary eyes causing her to sweat drop before sighing.

(Damnit, I can't say no to puppy dog eyes like that…) She raises her hands in defeat. "Alright, I'll head out with you guys."

Shirahoshi brightens up at this while Rose looks at the door. (Everyone does escape in the end, so I guess it'll be fine. If the place is gonna flood then I can't do much as a devil fruit user anyway.)

Luffy nods as he looks up at Shirahoshi. "It's gonna be tough to leave the tower without going unnoticed since you're so big."

Shirahoshi looks at him nervously. "I-indeed, I'm sorry…"

He chuckles. "Don't worry; I got a really good idea to get us out of here! Shishishi!"

Rose blinks in surprise before chuckling. "I know exactly what you're thinking Luffy and it's a brilliant idea. We should do it now before anyone tries to open the door."

Shirahoshi and Megalo look at them in confusion before the two pirates turn to them and discuss the plan.

* * *

Ten minutes earlier in the main hall of the palace Camie and Pappag watch in utter shock as Nami, Usopp, Brook and Zoro defeated Neptune and the royal guard and tied them up.

"W-what did you guys do?" Camie asks.

Pappagg looks at them in horror. (There's no way we're getting out of this alive!)

Usopp turns to Zoro in irritation. "I don't care what you say! This is too far!"

Brook nods. "I agree! You should show a little penitence!"

"You guys were the ones the ones that started the fight! We're all guilty here!"

"I was planning for us to run!" Usopp says.

Zoro groans in irritation. "There's nothing we can do about it now, so quit complaining!"

"What kind of excuse is that?! I kept telling you that we needed to run!"

"How do we run from an underwater palace?! Besides, Luffy and Rose were with you guys right?! Where are they?!"

Brook widens his eye holes in realization. "That's a good point, where did they run off to?"

Nami sighs as she runs a hand through her red hair. "How did a simple day of shopping turn out like this?"

She walks up to one of the tied up guards who's looking away from her so she grabs his face to look him in the eye. "We're in a real hurry, so will you please tell us where the treasure is stored?"

Usopp turns to her in irritation. "Will you stop that?!"

Nami turns to him innocently. "Huh? Why?"

"QUIT THE INNOCENT ACT! IF YOU'RE GOING TO ASK THEM SOMETHING ASK THEM WHERE LUFFY AND ROSE ARE!"

Zoro huffs as he sheathes his swords and crosses his arms over his chest. "At any rate, we can't stay on the island now. Where's the Sunny? We need to round everyone up and get out of here."

Usopp shakes his head. "The coating was torn off when we entered the island. We have to get a new one."

Nami nods then looks at the log pose and sees the needle spinning. "The log pose has been acting strangely ever since we got here. It hasn't shown any signs of setting."

The tied up advisor widens his eyes. "You hope to travel with a simple pose such as that one?! You pirates truly are ignorant."

Nami turns to him in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"I'll tell you if you untie me."

She turns away from his when the door bell to the palace started ringing.

The guards smile in excitement. "That must be the princes!"

Meanwhile outside the palace Prince Fuukaboshi looks at the closed door curiously. "That's odd. What are the guards doing?"

"YOUR HIGHNESSES!" The three princes turn to Cato's voice as he's riding up to them on a fish taxi.

Fukaboshi looks at him in confusion. "It's been a while old friend. What's the matter?"

"The Straw Hats are innocent. They didn't kidnap the mermaids. My friend and I fought the man responsible and rescued the girls, but we lost the perpetrator. The girls are recovering in Coral Town right now."

Ryuuboshi looks at him in shock. "The Straw Hats didn't kidnap the mermaids?!"

Mamboshi grins at this. "This is great! Now we can party with them like we planned right-"

"Who's there?" The group freezes to the sound of Zoro's voice on the intercom then the voices changes to the guards.

"PRINCE FUKABOSHI! PRINCE RYUUBOSHI! PRINCE MAMBOSHI! HELP US!"

The group freezes in horror when the intercom changed back to Zoro. "Shut up!"

Cato looks at the gate in utter shock before running his green hand through his black hair in frustration. (What the hell did these pirates do?! Just when we had their names cleared!)

Fukaboshi swims up to the intercom. "This is Fukaboshi! What is happening in the palace?! I request that the connecting way be lowered."

"Sorry, but we can't do that."

"Am I speaking to a member of the Straw Hats?"

The voice on the intercom immediately changed to Neptune's voice. "Fukaboshi! That man is the three sword wielding warrior of the Straw Hats! The Pirate Hunter Zori!"

"IT'S ZORO!" Zoro clears his throat before continuing. "You heard that right? We have a large number of hostages including your father. If you want them back unharmed you better prepare us a way out of here. Our demands are simple. We want you to bring our ship The Sunny here, fully coated, along with the rest of our friends. They consist of a creepy woman, a robot, a raccoon dog, a talking bird, a blonde pervert and a freckled pyro."

Fukaboshi clenches his fists before speaking. "Very well, we will meet your demands and arrange it so that your crew leaves as quickly as possible. In return, every hostage must be left unharmed."

Mamboshi turns to him in shock. "But brother!"

He shakes his head. "There is no other way around it. If they leave quickly then we won't have to worry about Madame Shirley's vision."

Cato sighs. "I know where to find the 'talking bird and freckled pyro'. I'll go get them right now."

The three princes nod as the fish taxi drives off to the Sea Forest while Fukaboshi turns his attention back to the intercom

"May I say one thing Zoro?"

He hums a response causing Fukaboshi to continue. "It saddens me that I must do this in a situation such as this, but I cannot allow my debt to Jimbei to go unpaid. I have a message for Straw Hat Luffy from former Shichibukai Jimbei. I was instructed to pass it on upon arrival on this island. The message consists of 2 parts."

"… Luffy isn't here right now, but we'll pass the message on. Let's hear it."

"The first part is 'do not get into a fight with Hody.' The second part is 'I await you in the Sea Forest.'"

"I'll make sure he gets both parts."

"Then we will return with your demands as soon as possible." Fuukaboshi turns to his brothers and the army. "Let's go. We need to find the Straw Hats and their ship as quickly as possible."

They nod as they drive away to search for the crewmembers while back in the main hall of the palace the crew and the hostages are starting to hear noises up at Shell Tower.

Neptune widens his eyes in horror. "What the?! Decken's spears?! Are there any guards with Shirahoshi?!"

One of the guards shakes his head. "No, all the guards have been captured!"

Neptune turns to the group. "Pirates! Go check on the princess' safety!"

Zoro quirks an eyebrow. "What are you talking about?"

"My daughter is at Shell Tower at the northeastern edge of the palace! You must hurry!"

Zoro huffs. "Why do I have to take orders from my hostages?"

"SILENCE!"

Usopp, Camie, Pappagg and Nami jolt at Neptune's yelling as he continued. "Shirahoshi is my only daughter and under unfortunate circumstances her life is under constant threat! IF ANYTHING HAPPENS TO HER BECAUSE OF YOU I WILL HUNT YOU TO THE ENDS OF THE OCEAN!"

Brook widens his eyeholes at this before grinning in excitement. "So you want us to check on the mermaid princess?!" He starts running out of the hall in excitement. "Allow me to be of service your majesty! Yohohoho!"

The minister looks at him in horror. "Did we just put the princess in even more danger?!"

"WAIT A MOMENT SKELETON!"

Brook stops to one a sea horse fishman guard's voice. "I won't ask you to untie me, but please take me with you! The tower is my responsibility! If anything were to happen to the princess I would soon die a thousand deaths!"

Brook looks at him in thought for a moment before picking him up over his shoulder and running. "You like her don't you!"

He blushes as he looks at him in shock. "T-that's preposterous!"

"WAIT BROOK!" The musician ignores Usopp's yelling as he leaves the room and headed towards the tower.

"Mermaid Princess! Are you alright?!" Brook calls out when they stop in horror at the doors to see various dead and half dead human pirates that were thrown at the door.

The guard looks at them in horror. "Vander Decken went from throwing axes to throwing human pirates at her?!"

Brook turns to him in shock. "Vander Decken did this?! Wait, some of them are recovering!"

The guard widens his eyes as half of the pirates start to regain consciousness. "This is bad! The princess and king are in danger!"

"FULL SPEED AHEAD SHARK! TO THE SEA FOREST!" Everyone widens their eyes at Luffy's voice when the doors open to Luffy and Rose riding on an overstuffed Megalo's head.

Rose grins in excitement as she pets Megalo's head. "You're doing great Megalo. Shirahoshi, just hang on until we leave the palace."

Shirahoshi keeps quiet as she stays in Megalo's mouth while he swims out of the palace as fast as he can causing them to be too far to hear Brook's call.

"LUFFY-SAN! ROSE-SAN! WHERE ARE YOU GOING?!"

The guard yells out in shock. "WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS MEGALO!? HOW CAN YOU LEAVE THE TOWER DOORS OPEN? Wait, the princess! Skeleton, go into that room and see if the princess is ok!"

Brook nods as he runs into the room but freezes when he goes in to see the room completely empty.

"AAAH! SHIRAHOSHI'S GONE! THIS IS TERRIBLE! IT MUST BE A KIDNAPPING!"

"My friends wouldn't have-" Brook quickly turned around and unsheathed his sword to block the surrounding pirates attack.

"Just tell us where the switch is and we won't hurt you." One of the pirates say causing Brook to look at him in confusion.

"What are you talking about?"

The guard looks down at him. "Just run back to the hall skeleton! We need to report this to the king right away! I have a bad feeling something worse is coming."

Brook sighs as he gets ready in a stance. "What can be worse than this?" He charges through the crowd to make it back to the others in order to tell them what happened.

* * *

Ace and Zira were following the direction the vivre card was pointing to in the middle of the Sea Forest when they saw a familiar ship straight ahead.

"Is that the Sunny?!" Zira flies ahead to confirm her suspicions as she lands on the deck next to Franky. "Glad to see you found the ship Franky."

He lifts his sunglasses and grins at Zira. "Hey there Zira. Did you come here alone?"

She shakes her head. "Ace came here with me." She points her wing to Ace who's approaching the ship and waving at them.

"Hey Franky, how's the ship?"

"It doesn't look too damaged from the current, but we're gonna need a new coating. Thankfully I found my old teacher's brother who can help us."

A red white haired merman floated toward him and waved his webbed hand for him. "Hey there, the name's Den."

Ace waves then looks down at his vivre card. "Have you guys seen Jimbei around here?"

"He's over there bro." Franky points to a clearing right next to him where Jimbei is sitting in front of a big beautiful grave and completely focused on the grave.

Ace widens his eyes at the grave causing Den to explain.

"That's the resting spot of our late queen Otohime. You can go see Jimbei if you want."

He nods as he approaches Jimbei from behind. "Long time no see Jimbei."

Jimbei snaps out of his thoughts to turn to Ace then smiles in joy. "Ace! You made it! How was training with Rayleigh and Luffy?"

"It was great, I've gotten a lot stronger and so has Luffy."

"Has Luffy come here with you?"

He shakes his head. "Sorry, I came here with another member of his crew."

Zira nods in satisfaction of the recognition then helps Franky with some of the ship work.

Jimbei sighs. "I see I just hope he got my message."

Ace quirks an eyebrow as he sits next to him. "What message?"

"I sent a message for him to meet me here and to not get in a fight with one of the pirates here. You guys didn't happen to meet Hody did you?"

He shakes his head. "No, but I think we met some of his crew. We didn't fight them though… I have some questions for you though. Cato filled me in about Teach and Big Mom so you don't need to talk about them, but do you have any knowledge about what happened to the Whitebeard commanders?"

He shakes his head. "Sorry Ace, I haven't heard anything of their whereabouts for about a year…"

Ace widens his eyes at this. "A year?!"

He nods. "A lot has happened since you and Luffy were training these past 2 years. With your permission I'd like to wait until Luffy is here as well so you both know what's been going on."

He sighs before nodding. "That's fine. While we're waiting can you tell me why we can't fight Hody?"

"That I can tell you." He stares at the grave while telling him about Hody's crew.

* * *

Luffy grins as they ride on Megalo's head and sees the coast of Coral Town in their sights before looking down. "It should be ok for you to come out of his mouth now crybaby."

Shirahoshi nervously jolts as she stays in Megalo's mouth. "N-no, that's ok. I'm fine in here."

Megalo almost gags but does his best not to spit her out.

Rose gently pats the shark's head. "Just hang on a little longer Megalo, you're doing great."

He slowly nods while Luffy turns his attention to Shirahoshi.

"So how is it? Your first time outside in ten years!"

Shirahoshi looks outside nervously. "M-my heart is beating really fast. Is this what you call an adventure?"

He chuckles. "Shishishi. Yup, if your heart's beating fast then it's an adventure. You said you wanted to go to the Sea Forest right? What's over there?"

"A grave! There's a grave that I've never seen since it was built ten years ago. I've always wanted to go there."

Rose softly grins down at her. "I can imagine you're eager to go there, we should be there soon." She freezes then turns to Luffy. "Oh yea, I think Franky's at the Sea Forest too."

Luffy grins at that as they get closer to the coastal town. "Really?! Great!"

Shirahoshi looks up in confusion. "How do you know he'll be there Rose-sama?"

She rubs the back of her head sheepishly while looking at the town. "It's kind of a long- Hey wait, isn't that Chopper and Sanji down there?" (That's right, we pick them up here! Hacchi's there too! Damnit, Decken already injured him!)

The others follow her gaze to see Sanji and Chopper surrounded by a mob of angry fishmen while Hacchi is lying on the ground in pain as Chopper treats his injuries.

"Even though you're innocent for taking the mermaids we won't forgive you for taking over the palace! Just get out of our island!"

Sanji looks at them in confusion. "What are you talking about?! We've been in town the whole time!"

Luffy waves his arms as they get closer to the crowd. "HEY GUYS! OVER HERE!"

Sanji and Chopper look up to see them coming closer.

Chopper happily waves over to them. "LUFFY! ROSE!"

Sanji looks at Megalo in confusion. "Is that a puffer fish?"

Shirahoshi looks at them curiously. "Are they friends of yours?"

"Yea, they're our crewmates." Rose says while the townspeople glare up at them.

"There are more of them?! That guy must be their boss!"

Shirahoshi looks at the crowd nervously. "I can't be seen by all these people. Megalo, can you close your mouth a little more?"

The shark tries his best to keep his mouth shut while Luffy and Rose jump off of Megalo.

"Wait right there, we'll be right back." Luffy says as Rose eases the landing with her wind.

Rose looks around the angry crowd before turning to Sanji. "How you feeling Sanji?"

"Much better thank you, but why is everyone so mad at us?"

"They think we kidnapped some mermaids."

He quirks an eyebrow in confusion. "But they said we were innocent of that."

She widens her eyes in shock. "Huh?! They know we're innocent?! In that case, it might be because some of the others took over the palace while we were still being accused." (Did Ace have something to do with the mermaids?)

Sanji groans in frustration as he lights his cigarette. "That shitty marimo is always causing trouble. How do we get out of this one?"

She sighs in exasperation. "We just have to play things out."

Luffy sees Hacchi and runs towards him. "Hacchi, is that you?! What happened?!"

Hacchi groans in pain. "… Straw Hat, you guys have to get out of here…"

Chopper turns to him after treating Hacchi's injuries. "He won't tell us anything! He just keeps saying to get off the island!"

Rose looks at him softly while clenching her fists. (Hacchi…)

The fishmen keep their guard up while talking among themselves.

"Wait, wasn't Straw Hat occupying the palace?!"

"What if they left after stealing the treasure and kidnapping the princess?!"

Another Fish man shakes his head. "Kidnapping the princess is impossible. Princess Shirahoshi is a giant mermaid and Neptune's daughter. Nobody can hope to-"

He was cut off to the sound of Megalo gagging and accidentally coughing up Shirahoshi before he passed out. The citizens stare in utter shock as their princess sits up and looks at them nervously.

"PRINCESS SHIRAHOSHI?!"

Luffy and Rose widen their eyes while Sanji's back was turned to her and didn't listen to the crowd.

Chopper looks up at her in utter shock. "She's huge! And did they just say princess?!" (That's the mermaid princess?!)

Sanji quirks an eyebrow in confusion. "Is there someone behind me?"

Chopper jolts as he raises his arms up. "NO SANJI! WHATEVER YOU DO DON'T TURN AROUND!"

The fish men recover from their shock to glare at the pirates. "THEY KIDNAPPED THE MERMAID PRINCESS!"

Rose raises her hands defensively. "Hang on everyone! This isn't what it looks like!"

One of them turns to her and throws a can at her but she dodges. "Shut up! As if we'll believe what you pirates say!"

Luffy groans in frustration as he turns to Shirahoshi. "Why did you get out of the shark?"

Shirahoshi starts tearing up. "I-I'm so sorry Luffy-sama! Please don't be angry… Waah!"

The fish men look at him in shock. "HE MADE THE PRINCESS CRY!"

Sanji widens his eyes as his back is still towards Shirahoshi. "Everyone keeps saying princess, wait… Y-you don't mean…"

Chopper waves his arms frantically. "DON'T TURN AROUND SANJI!"

"Are you telling the mermaid princess is standing right behind me?!"

He starts tearing up while shouting. "THAT'S RIGHT! SHE'S BEHIND YOU, SO DON'T TURN AROUND NO MATTER WHAT SANJI! AN ORDINARY MERMAID WAS ENOUGH TO NEARLY KILL YOU! IF YOU SEE THE PRINCESS YOU'LL BE DEAD FOR SURE!"

Sanji smokes his cigarette while staying silent. (The mermaid princess, the most beautiful of all mermaids that's said to rival even the pirate empress is right behind me?! How could I live knowing that I let this chance slip by?!)

He puffs a smoke while showing a look of determination. "Chopper, I'm sorry but I choose to fulfill my dream and go to my death gracefully."

Chopper jolts. "I thought your dream was to find the All Blue! WAIT, DON'T DO IT!" He jumps to stop him but it's too late as Sanji turns around and freezes at the sight of the crying mermaid princess.

(Never in my wildest dreams would I imagine that she is… SUCH A BEAUTY!) Sanji practically felt his heart leap out of his chest as he turned to stone out of happiness.

Chopper looks at him in utter shock. "He turned to stone?!"

Luffy ignored the scene and ran towards Hacchi while Rose looks at Sanji in shock.

(Wow, he really did turn to stone… At least he won't nosebleed any-) She snaps out of her thoughts when she sensed a bottle flying at her from behind and caught it before it could hit her then turned to see the citizens ambushing the group and tied their arms and legs up.

"Hey! What's the big idea?!" Luffy struggles with the ropes while the crowd cheers.

"We got the pirates!"

"Don't take the people of Fishman island lightly!"

One of them goes over to Hacchi and glares at him. "I remember you! You're one of Arlong's crew! You'll pay along with the pirates!"

Hacchi stays silent while Shirahoshi looks at them nervously. "E-excuse me, it isn't like that… Luffy-sama and Rose-sama were-"

"It's ok princess, you don't need to fear! We'll make sure these criminals are executed!"

Rose sighs as she sits quietly while staying tied up. (I could get out of the ropes right now, but that might just make them angrier. I'll wait until we're dealing with Decken.)

Luffy senses something off then turns to the fishmen. "Hey guys, something's flying this way."

One of the fish men glare at him. "There's no point in trying to distract us with lies."

Another fish man looks up and widens his eyes. "Wait, there really is something coming this way!"

The rest of the crowd follows his gaze to see a giant piece of coral flying towards them with Decken on board.

Vander Decken laughs as he's flying on the coral. "I've found you now Shirahoshi! Bahohohoh!"

Shirahoshi tears up nervously at the sight of him while he starts shouting.

"ANSWER ME SHIRAHOSHI! SAY YES AND YOU WON'T DIE! MY DEAR PRINCESS, MARRY ME!"

The crowd glares at him while Shirahoshi shakes her head. "You're not my type!"

Everyone looks at her in utter shock. (That's why you reject him?!)

Decken looks at her in distraught before glaring at her and grabbing his axes. "How dare you trample on my ten years of longing?! If you won't love me then die!"

The fish men turn to her in distraught. "Shirahoshi please flee!"

Luffy stands up while some of the fish men hold him back. "DON'T RUN AWAY CRYBABY! STAY RIGHT WHERE YOU ARE!"

"What are you talking about?! Are you telling her to die?!"

He shakes his head as he looks at Shirahoshi. "If you go too far I can't protect you!"

Shirahoshi looks at him in shock before nodding. "Ok, I won't run!"

The crowd gets ready to attack Luffy. "How dare you threaten the princess?!"

"Sorry guys, I don't have anything against you but you're in the way!" Luffy uses his conqueror's haki to knock out the surrounding fishmen then jumped towards Deckens coral and destroyed it.

The fishmen who are still standing looks at him in shock. "Wh-whoa, he's not even breaking the ropes…"

While the crowd was distracted by Luffy and Decken's fight Rose used her logia abilities to phase out of the ropes and looks at Luffy's fight. (Wow, Luffy's training really paid off. He's more badass than ever!)

She grins as she quietly unties Hacchi, Chopper and Sanji's ropes and starts whispering. "As soon as Luffy takes down the creep we're bolting it."

Chopper and Hacchi nod while Sanji got out of his stone phase but is still drunk on happiness from seeing Shirahoshi. Rose lightly slaps Megalo to wake him up while Luffy is fighting Decken while still tied up.

"GUM GUM JET HAMMER!" They look to see Luffy using his legs to throw Decken head first to the ground while the fishmen stare at him in shock.

"He just took down Vander Decken!"

"Let's capture him before he can hurt the princess!"

While they were focused on Decken Luffy hopped over to the group and saw Sanji's state. "What happened to Sanji?!"

"He turned to stone and now he's drowning in happiness but he's still alive." Chopper says as Megalo starts floating causing Rose to use her wind to get the group on the shark's head.

Shirahoshi goes behind Luffy to untie him as they start leaving.

The crowd looks at them in shock as they're leaving. "Princess, why are you helping him?!"

She turns to her people nervously while holding onto Megalo. "I'm sorry everyone! I'll be back in time for dinner!"

The crowd looks at her in confusion as they swim away on Megalo.

Rose flies ahead of Megalo causing the others to look at her in confusion.

"Where are you going Rose?!" Luffy asks.

Rose smirks as she readies her wind. "I can't let you have all the fun today."

The group looks at her in confusion while Decken is fighting off the crowd. "DON'T THINK YOU CAN ESCAPE! WADATSUMI, TAKE THEM DOWN!"

Wadatsumi surfaces from the towns coast line right in front of the group while Rose focuses her wind in her hands to create a wind orb rotating fast enough to cause it to look like a shuriken. "Rasen Shuriken!"

Before Wadatsumi an attack she throws the shuriken at the giant fish man's teeth and sliced one of them in half causing him to clench his teeth in pain before running away. "OW! MY TOOF!"

Sanji was still lying on the shark passed out while Luffy and Chopper look at her with stars in their eyes. "That was awesome!"

Hacchi looks at her in shock. "Wow, you guys have really gotten stronger…"

Decken grits his teeth as he fights off the mob. (Useless fool! I'll get you Shirahoshi!)

Rose lands on Megalo's head then turns to Hacchi. "How are you feeling Hacchi?"

He sighs. "I'd feel a lot better if you guys heed my warnings."

Chopper turns to Rose. "Do you know who did this to him?"

Rose looks at Hacchi for a moment before sighing. "Sorry doc, but if he doesn't want to reveal the culprit then it's his call. As for you Hacchi, we can't leave because our ship lost its coating so you're stuck with us. If it can ease your worries though, I know Hody and Decken's plans won't work."

Hacchi widens his eyes at this. (She knows what happened to me, but she won't tell them?! And she knows what Hody's planning?! Wait a minute…) His jaw hits his feet as he looks at her in utter shock. "YOU'RE ALIVE?!"

Her purple eyes widen as she looks at him in disbelief. "YOU JUST NOTICED THAT?!"

Luffy laughs at that while Shirahoshi looks at them in confusion. "Why wouldn't you be alive Rose-sama?"

Rose jolts before sighing. "Trust me, you don't want to know. Ready for the Sea Forest Shirahoshi?"

She nods in excitement while Luffy looks ahead. "Let's go to the Sea Forest shark!"

Megalo nods as he takes the group to the Sea Forest while chaos continues to erupt on the island.

TO BE CONTINUED


	39. Chapter 39

Ace and Jimbei are sitting casually in front of Otohime's grave after talking about Hody when Ace sighs in frustration. "Damnit, I can't believe how much has changed in two years."

Jimbei looks at him softly. "It's not your fault Ace. I knew this island would have to face the New Fishman Pirates sooner or later. I'm sure Neptune can handle them."

He slowly nods when Jimbei changes the subject. "How did Luffy handle the training?"

"He managed under Rayleigh's training pretty well. There were times when he almost got eaten by animals at the beginning, but that's nothing new."

He nods before staring at the ground sadly. "Do you think his heart has recovered from losing Rose?"

Ace widens his eyes at this before grinning. "Oh, he's definitely recovered. You're never gonna believe this Jimbei, after the war Shanks and the Whitebeards-"

"WHAT KIND OF CRAZY CREW DID YOU COME HERE WITH ACE?!"

Ace was cut off by Cato's voice as he and Jimbei turn to see him running towards them while Franky and Zira look at him in confusion from the Sunny.

"What's Cato doing here?" Zira asks causing Franky to turn to her.

"You know that guy?"

"He's Ace's friend. He helped rescue me and the mermaids from the swamp pervert."

Jimbei looks at him in confusion as he gets up. "What's the matter Cato?"

"Those crazy pirates took over the palace and are holding the king hostage!"

"Luffy's crew did what now?!" Ace gets up in shock while the others overhear him and rush over.

Cato groans. "When the guards tried to arrest your brothers crewmates they fought back. Frankly, I'm just shocked that they managed to not only take down the guards but Neptune himself. They made some demands in exchange for everyone."

Zira widens her eyes as she flies right next to him. "You can't be serious!"

"I'm dead serious." He turns to Franky and quirks an eyebrow. (Is this the robot?) "I take it you're a part of that crew as well?"

He nods. "Yea, I'm their shipwright. Sorry about this, I promise they're not the type to hurt hostages. Did they say what they wanted?"

"They just demanded your ship fully coated and the rest of the crew to meet them."

Den nods as he points to the Sunny. "The ship's right here Cato. With yours and Franky's help we can get the coating done in no time. "

He nods. "Good idea, once we're done we should head to the palace together."

The group turns to get to work when they hear a voice calling out to them.

"Hey it's the Sunny!"

They widen their eyes to Luffy's voice and look out to see Megalo floating towards them with Luffy's group on his back with Hacchi lying down and Sanji still passed out from happiness.

Luffy spots the group and starts waving. "FRANKY! ACE! ZIRA! THERE YOU ARE!"

Rose widens her eyes when she spots Ace and Zira. (This is where he went?! That's a relief. I know Den and Jimbei would be here but who's the other fishman? And how did Zira wind up with them?)

Cato looks at the group in confusion. "Wait, if the captain's here then who's at the palace?"

Ace sighs. "I don't know, but with Luffy here maybe we can calm things down."

Luffy jumps off Megalo before he lands then runs to them. "Hey guys, what's up?"

Zira flies up to his face. "Don't 'what's up' me! What's this we hear about the crew taking over the palace?"

Luffy tilts his head in confusion. "I don't know."

Franky turns Cato in thought. "Are you sure it was our crew that did it?"

"The first mate Zoro was making the demands, but he didn't mention your captain in them. That's odd…"

Ace sighs. "We'll just have to do what we can to straighten this out."

Cato nods at this while Jimbei walks up to Luffy. "In any case, it's good to see you again Luffy."

Luffy turns to him and brightens up. "You're here too Jimbei?! That's awesome! I heard you weren't on the island."

He quirks an eyebrow at this. "You didn't come because of my message?"

"What message?"

Shirahoshi gets off of Megalo and smiles down at Jimbei. "Boss Jimbei-sama?! It's great to see you!"

He looks up at Shirahoshi with a smile. "Ah Shirahoshi, I didn't expect to see you here. It's great to-" He freezes then looks at her in utter shock.

"PRINCESS SHIRAHOSHI?! Wait a minute, why are you here with Luffy's crew?!"

Shirahoshi scratches her cheek sheepishly. "It's a long story."

Jimbei looks up at her frantically. "I understand why you would want to come here, but it's too dangerous!"

Rose casually lands next to him while he was distracted and shrugs. "I wouldn't worry about it too much. After all, with all of us here she's pretty safe."

He twitches an eyebrow in irritation. "That doesn't matter! Vander Decken's axes could come at any time and…" He widens his eye before slowly turning to see Rose smiling at him and sheepishly waving at him.

"CATONE ROSE?!"

She chuckles before nodding. "Hey Jimbei, it's been a while. How have these two years been for you?"

He shakes his head to snap out of his shock then scowls at her. "Don't give me that! You mean to tell me that you've been alive this whole time?!"

She rubs the back of her head sheepishly. "Yup, I was barely alive after Aokiji stabbed me, but Shanks and the Whitebeards saved me. Afterwards, Shanks hid me while training me in haki until the crew got back together."

Jimbei widened his eyes at this before glaring at Ace. "Why the hell didn't you tell me this?!"

Ace raises his hands defensively. "I was about to tell you when Cato showed up!"

Rose chuckles before politely bowing to Jimbei. "Still, thank you for getting the guys out of the war."

He shakes his head. "You shouldn't be thanking me. I feel partly responsible for what happened since I held Luffy back, and I want to apologize to you."

Rose straightens up and raises her hands defensively. "Please don't worry about it. It wasn't your fault."

Luffy nods in agreement. "She's right, you didn't do anything wrong. Oh yea, I want to thank you for helping me out back then."

Jimbei blinks in surprise before grinning. "Think nothing of it."

The others grinned while Chopper grabs Hacchi and looks down at Franky from on top of the shark. "Franky, I'm gonna lower him down. Can you catch him?" Chopper asks causing Franky to nod then catch him.

"Octopus man? It's been a while, what happened to you?"

Jimbei turns to them in utter shock. "HACCHI?!"

He runs over to them as Franky lays him down. "What happened to you?! How did you get these wounds?"

Hacchi remains silent when Sanji wakes up and sees Shirahoshi with hearts in his eyes and starts love tornadoing towards her.

"Oh mermaid princess! Why, in your glorious presence it is as though I am a hopeless artist! No paint can capture your radiance and no canvas in the world can contain your beauty!"

Chopper looks at him with happy tears in his eyes as he jumps down to join Hacchi. "Sanji's finally back to normal!"

Luffy chuckles then sees Den swimming up to Hacchi. "Who's that guy?"

Franky points to him. "That's Den, he's my old teacher's brother. He's coating the ship for us."

Luffy tilts his head in confusion. "I see, a teacher who's coating Franky's brother."

Franky sweat drops before nodding. "Sure, let's go with that."

Rose chuckles at that when Zira flies over to her and almost tackles her in a hug.

Rose blinks in surprise before hugging her back. "Hey Zira, so this was where you went. What happened with Caribou?"

"I was too late in stopping the mermaids. He started catching them when I tried to stop him and he wound up kidnapping me."

Rose widens her eyes at this before lifting her up to her eye level. "Are you ok?!"

She nods. "Yea, I almost made him deaf with my screech before he knocked me out then Ace and Cato saved me and the mermaids. If I don't see that swamp monster again though I'll be happy."

She chuckles as she sets her down. "I don't blame you. Don't worry, he'll get what's coming to him."

Zira nods before Ace walks up to her. "What the hell happened at the castle?"

She rubs her head. "Everything's really complicated right now. I promise things work out in the end, but right now things kind of went to shit. Sorry about this, I tried to prevent the crew being framed for the mermaids by trying to stop Caribou from taking them, but that didn't work..."

Ace groans before Cato nods. "At least you tried. The name's Cato, I'm Ace's friend."

He extends a hand for her which she takes to shake. "It's a pleasure, thank you for helping Ace and Zira."

He nods when Luffy kicks away a flying axe before it could hit Shirahoshi.

Luffy sighs as he looks at the axe. "Man, that's the tenth axe since we left town. That guy sure doesn't give up."

Jimbei groans in irritation. "That's why she shouldn't be here! What were you thinking bringing her here Luffy?!"

Luffy shrugs as he looks up at Shirahoshi. "She's fine since I'm here to protect her right?"

Shirahoshi grins as she nods. "Yes, that's right!"

He sweat drops at this. "She's so carefree…"

Shirahoshi looks over her mother's grave then silently goes over it and prays while weeping in joy.

Everyone leaves her alone at the grave while Rose softly grins at the sight. (Glad she could see her mom again.)

Luffy tilts his head at the sight. "So that was the grave she was talking about then."

Jimbei nods. "That's the resting place of her mother Queen Otohime. The princess was unfortunate enough to become a victim of Vander Decken's attention at the worst possible timing… She wasn't able to even attend her mother's funeral, due to her need to stay in Shell Tower for these ten long years… She must have so many things she wishes to say to her mother…"

Most of the group looks at her sadly when Nami and Camie rush to the scene from a fish taxi.

"Hey guys!" Nami waves at them as they reach the group.

Luffy waves at them. "Hey Nami! Camie!"

Sanji starts showing hearts in his eyes. "NAMI-SWAAN! CAMIE-CHWAAN!"

Nami sweat drops at Sanji's attitude. "Looks like he's back to normal.

Camie nods then freezes when she sees Shirahoshi. "What's Shirahoshi doing here?!"

Cato sighs. "Things have just been crazy…"

Camie turns to him with a grin. "Cato-chin?! I didn't expect to see you here. Wait, Hacchin?! What happened to you?!"

Camie rushes over to Hacchi causing him to look up at her. "It's nothing, I'll be ok Camie."

Nami frowns as she turns to Luffy and Rose. "Where the hell have you two been when things were going crazy at the castle?!"

Luffy chuckles while showing off a toothy grin as he wraps an arm around Rose. "Rose and I got a room like Usopp told us to."

If anyone was drinking they were doing a spit take at Luffy's innocent statement before everyone turns to the pair in utter shock while Rose is completely frozen with her face entirely red.

Ace's eyes bug out in shock. "What the hell?! You two just got back together! That's too early!"

Nami giggles while shaking her head. "Honestly, I think it's been a long time coming."

Chopper looks at everyone in confusion. "Why is everyone freaking out?"

Franky shakes his head. "You don't need to worry about it. Still, I probably should make a separate bedroom for those two now."

Sanji starts crying comical tears. "Why?! Our poor Rose was deflowered!"

Rose twitches an eyebrow in irritation while blushing as she gets out of Luffy's embrace. "I can live without the flower puns and it wasn't like that! Luffy smelled food from Shirahoshi's room so he went there, and he took me along with him. After meeting her we convinced her to leave as thanks for the food."

The others calmed down at the explanation while Luffy tilts his head in confusion. "So 'getting a room' isn't about eating food together? Then what does it-"

Ace cuts him off with a whack to the head. "We're not talking about this now!"

Rose nods in agreement as she hides her face in her hands. "Thank you Ace." (Glad to have someone on my side about this. Luffy's way too innocent for that crap.)

Den laughs at the scene in front of him. "You have a pretty funny crew Franky."

Franky nods in agreement. "They're super guys."

Nami sighs before turning to the couple. "I guess it's a good thing you guys got the princess out when you did. Things have gotten crazy at the castle. A fishman named Hody took over the palace."

All of the fishmen widen their eyes at this while Shirahoshi finishes praying after hearing that and returns to the group with teary eyes. "What happened to father-sama?!"

Nami looks at her softly. "I'm sorry, but I'm not sure. Camie and I managed to escape when the chaos started happening. Camie and I were planning to come back once we found you guys."

Rose nods. "Neptune and the others are alive, but Hody and his crew are going wild…"

Jimbei sighs. "I see, I apologize to you all. It seems you were dragged into this island's troubles too quickly. This may all be sudden, but please understand that when I met your captain two years ago it wasn't the time to speak of such things…"

Rose stayed silent while the others turn to him curiously as he continued. "I harbor a profound gratitude to your crew for putting a stop to the terror that Arlong and his crew have caused in East Blue, but at the same time I must apologize… For 11 years ago the one responsible for unleashing Arlong upon the waters of East Blue was none other than myself…"

Hacchi looked away in shame while Nami widened her eyes at Jimbei's proclamation.

Nami sighed to calm herself down. "You were really the one that unleashed Arlong to East Blue?"

Jimbei slowly nods while Sanji smokes his cigarette before lightly glaring at him. "I've heard about this before. Back in East Blue Yosaku said the same thing. When I saw Luffy and Jimbei together in that newspaper two years ago giving out the message I have to admit I didn't know what to think. After all, up until then I've been thinking him as the man behind Arlong. I'm willing to listen to your excuses Jimbei, but you'd better choose your words carefully. You should know that our lovely navigator ere was a resident of the island Arlong took over. She suffered more than anyone thanks to Arlong. So depending on what you say next I might not be able to forgive you."

Hacchi slowly nods. "It's true Jimbei… The pain we caused Nami is something that we can't atone for…"

Nami bit her lip and stared at the ground while Jimbei turns to her.

"… I see, that must have been difficult for you…"

Sanji twitches an eyebrow in irritation. "Don't act like this has nothing to do to you!"

Nami steps up to them and pats Sanji on the shoulder to calm him down. "Take it easy Sanji. Look, no matter what I have no intention of forgiving Arlong, but… Until I arrived at Sabaody Archipelago two years ago I had no idea that a race as powerful as the fishmen had suffered persecution because of humans. Then when we were pursuing those slave traders that kidnapped Camie I saw something when we stepped foot in Sabaody Park. It was the spitting image of the Arlong Park that they made on my home island."

Hacchi silently sighed before turning to her. "We all idolized that place. I'm not asking for your forgiveness Nami. I know what we did was truly wrong, but even Arlong longed to be able to go to that park without being feared. While this kingdom has taking steps to trying to make peace with humans they continued to hate us… The worst period I can remember was at the beginning of the Great Pirate Era when human pirates ran wild on the island. It wasn't until Whitebeard came and made the island as his territory that peace returned to the island."

Ace grits his teeth at that while Jimbei continued. "While we had that peace the hatred humans felt towards us lived on. There were two individuals who made valiant attempts to improve life for fishmen. One was queen Otohime who preached to her subjects that we should live in harmony with the humans. The other was Fisher Tiger, the hero of slaves. He was resolved that fishmen and humans should go their separate ways, so he broke the taboo in mounting a lone assault upon the holy land of Mariejois and freed the slaves help captive. Afterwards, he created the Sun Pirates with the former fishman slaves."

Luffy tilts his head in confusion. "Fisher Tiger? I heard that name before."

Chopper nods. "That fishman at the cove was talking about him."

Jimbei nods as he reveals the sun tattoo on his chest causing the pirates to widen their eyes while Cato, Den and Hacchi stared at the ground softly.

"Both Arlong, Hacchi, and I were members of the Sun Pirates. I'm willing to tell you the story of their past if you wish."

The others nod while Rose clenched her fists at remembering Fisher Tiger and Otohime's past but kept quiet as Jimbei told them the story of Fisher Tiger and Otohime's past. (Damnit, what's the point in the island joining the World Government if they can't protect their citizens?! Still, after years of hatred it wouldn't be easy to just let fishmen and humans be friends... I wonder, if Fisher Tiger and Otohime had somehow worked together to help the fishmen could they both still be alive?)

Rose silently sighed as she snaps out of her thought when Jimbei finished his story. "In the ten years following queen Otohime's funeral all the members of the royal family have been appealing to the people. Thanks for their efforts they were able to gather almost enough signatures to bring the island up to the surface. That was how Fishman Island has tried to fight discrimination then after creating the Fishman Pirates Arlong troubled your home Nami… Arlong is basically my sworn brother so I feel somewhat responsible. I planned to stop him as soon as I heard something, but Arlong bribed the marines so that Headquarters didn't get any information… I deeply apologize…"

Sanji twitches an eyebrow in irritation. "If you're that sorry then take responsibility you asshole!"

Nami sighs. "Stop Sanji, it's obvious he didn't mean for it to happen."

Jimbei bows his head to her. "He's right that I should take responsibility. You can punish me however you wish."

Nami shakes her head. "It's ok, it's not you that I hate."

She sat down next to Luffy who fell asleep during the story and grinned at Jimbei. "In any case, I'm glad to know you're not the one pulling the strings to Arlong's crew. We're both Luffy's friends after all. I did suffer a lot because of Arlong, but despite that it's also when I met my friends. I don't blame you for any of it."

Jimbei widens his eyes in shock as she continued. "You don't need to apologize to me for what happened. I'm living a pretty fun life now."

Hacchi starts tearing up at Nami's words while the others look at her with a soft grin. Jimbei starts trembling as he keeps his head down to hide his tears.

"I-I don't deserve your words… Thank you…"

Ace walks up to him to pat him on the shoulder quietly while the other pirates look at him softly when Franky starts tearing up. "Waah! You're a real man Jimbei! I'm not crying assholes!"

Cato and Den sweat drop at Franky's tears while Zira flies down next to Luffy and pecks his head. "Wake up Luffy!"

Luffy gets up to avoid her pecking then looks around in confusion.

Chopper looks at him in shock. "I can't believe you slept through the whole thing!"

Rose sighs. "When did you doze off?"

"The part about the thief." Luffy says causing Sanji to groan.

"So since the start?!"

Cato quirks an eyebrow. "Is this guy really the captain?"

Zira nods. "Yea, he can be an idiot sometimes but he's really reliable."

Jimbei sighs as he stands up. "Now then, we should be talking about the situation at the palace. From what you all told me Hody and his gang attacked, and the king, his soldiers and some of your friends are missing…"

Hacchi slowly lifts his head up causing Camie and Cato to help him sit up. "Jimbei, if Hody achieves his goal the whole country will be in chaos."

Jimbei widens his eyes at this. "That's right, you were at the Fishman District, so you should know about Hody's plans."

Hacchi nods. "I do know… Hody hates humans more than Arlong did, but there was a difference between him and Arlong. While Arlong only harmed humans Hody would mercilessly kill both humans and any fishmen that try to befriend them."

Rose clenches her fists at this while the other stared at him in shock while he continued. "The World Government's Reverie that takes place once every 4 years is this years. Kind Neptune was planning on showing the signatures the family collected in order to move the island."

Cato widens his eyes at this. "Wait, are you saying that he's trying to destroy the signatures like what happened 10 years ago?!"

He shakes his head. "No, not only to stop it. He wants to-"

"Guys look!" Chopper says as he points to the giant snail moving towards them.

Den widens his eyes at this. "That's a visual den den mushi! A monitor will come out soon!"

A monitor appeared from the snail to show a large grey skinned great white shark fishman with long curly brown hair under a pink hat on the screen.

Nami widens her eyes at the image. "That's the guy that attacked the palace!"

Rose clenches her fists as she glares at the monitor. (So that's Hody…)

Most of the others watch in shock as Hody started speaking. "Inhabitants of Fishman Island can you hear me? I am the captain of the New Fishman Pirates of the Fishman District Hody Jones. I have an important announcement to tell the people of Fishman Island."

The group looks at him in confusion except Rose as Hody started smirking. "This country will be destroyed and will be reborn with me as your king! Anyone who desires peace with the humans should leave this country at once! Soon new citizens will arrive in the country from the Fishman District. They are comrades who share our hatred of the humans and wish to bring change to the island. I know most of you have witnessed the death of your beloved queen. If we believe in the humans and attempt to approach them with open arms we will only be betrayed just as they betrayed her. The royal family's words have dulled your minds. You all have been goaded into walking to your deaths. YOU NEED TO OPEN YOUR EYES TO THE TRUTH!"

Shirahoshi starts tearing up while the others glare at the screen as he continued.

"Take a good look everyone. Your beloved king Neptune has grown too old to rule!" Hody reveals king Neptune tied up in chains causing the group to look at it in shock.

"Father-sama!" Shirahoshi couldn't get her eyes off the screen.

Rose looks at her softly then gently pats her on the arm. (Sorry Shirahoshi…)

The others glare at the screen while Hody smirks. "It's time to say goodbye to the old kingdom. In 3 hours at Gyoncord Plaza I will execute this worthless king and start the new age for this island! Also, this message goes out to the Straw Hat Pirates! Take a good look!"

He shows an image of Zoro, Usopp and Brook tied up and locked in a cage. "I know you are watching the broadcast from somewhere on the island! You're all filthy humans that destroyed Arlongs crew who fought for our noble race! By the time the king's execution is complete the room they're in will be flooded completely!"

The others look at the screen in shock while Rose clenches her fists.

Sanji sighs as he puffs a smoke from his cigarette. "What are they playing at?"

"They got caught?!" Luffy asks.

Hody shows off Luffy's wanted poster while shouting. "Straw Hat Luffy, as a captain with a 400 million bounty the lives of your crew will serve as a perfect example to the humans to just how inferior you are! It's time to clear the trash of this island and only allow those loyal to our race to survive! In three hours this country will be reborn, and in the meantime you all had better be prepared!"

The screen turns blank causing everyone to stare at the black screen in shock until Luffy rubs the back of his head with a grin.

"So my bounty's 400 million now? When did that happen?"

Nami whacks him on the head. "Is now really the time for that?!"

Sanji nods as he smokes his cigarette. "It's obvious Hody's picking a fight with us."

Rose nods as she scowls at the screed. "Yea and with Decken on his side it'll be a tough fight."

Zira shakes her head to snap out of her shock then flies up to Rose. "Don't just say stuff like that so casually! Why the hell aren't you worried about the others?!"

Rose raises her hands defensively. "Relax, Zoro, Usopp and Brook manage to escape."

Nami sighs. "How exactly do they escape?"

"Brook takes his soul out of his body to find Pappag then he unlocks the cage and frees them."

Franky widens his eyes at this. "Skeleton can do that now?! That's really SUPER!"

Rose nods in agreement while Ace turns around and starts walking. "We still need to take care of Hody and his crew. I'll go take care of them."

Jimbei runs up to him. "Hold on Ace! You can't just charge in-"

"Come on Megalo! We have to go!" Everyone turns to Shirahoshi to see her riding on Megalo and storming off.

Rose flies in front of Megalo to stop him. "Hang on! It's too dangerous!"

Shirahoshi bites her lip in frustration. "But Rose-sama we can't-"

Cato yells up to her. "She's right Shirahoshi, you're one of Hody's targets!"

Hacchi nods. "It's true, Hody's afraid of your ability to call forth the Sea Kings. He's holding the king hostage as a form of protection against your power."

Shirahoshi looks down softly as she gets off Megalo. "I've heard about this power that I'm supposed to possess, but please understand I've never spoken to a sea king in my life… I'm still unsure that I have this ability…"

Jimbei nods. "I see, it's best if Hody doesn't find out about this. It's better when he fears the worst."

Luffy nods as he turns to Megalo. "Alright shark, take me to that Plaza where Hody's gonna be. Sanji, you take care of crybaby for me!"

"You got it."

Jimbei twitches an eyebrow in irritation. "WHAT IS WITH EVERYONE RUSHING TO DANGER?! Listen to me Luffy, you, Ace and your crew must not battle Hody! If humans get involved then it will only serve to fuel the resentment against humans. You must leave this to Cato and I!"

Cato nods in agreement. "You guys should stay here. When your friends get out we'll tell them where to find you."

Luffy and Ace glare at them as they get ready to fight.

"Hody made things personal by hurting my friends. I'm going and you can't stop me!" Luffy says.

Ace nods. "You said it yourself Cato that to make it up to everyone I have to do what I can to help. I'm helping you guys whether you like it or not."

Jimbei and Cato get in a stance while glaring at them.

Jimbei huffs in irritation as he glares at Luffy. "As a one-time comrade I hoped that you would listen to reason, but it turns out I was wrong. You and Ace really are brothers."

Cato nods. "Since you two won't sit back and let us handle it looks like we have to make you."

"Hang on guys! Can we talk about this?!" Nami says

"We can talk when these guys quit telling us to back off!" Luffy says.

"This isn't your problem!" Cato says.

"Of course it's our problem!" Ace says.

Rose twitches an eyebrow in irritation as she runs in between them. "Will you guys knock it off?! You're just wasting energy you can be using to beat up Hody!"

Zira nods. "This is pointless guys!"

"We can work this out guys!" Franky says.

"Aren't you guys friends?!" Camie says.

"There's no need to get so worked up." Sanji says.

Ace and Cato calm down while Luffy ran over to Megalo to leave causing Jimbei to use his fishman karate. "Fishman Karate Righteous Fist!"

He punched the air to create shockwaves using the water in the area to send Luffy flying.

"Luffy!" The others look at him in shock as he gets up and glares at Jimbei.

Luffy gets into second gear and tried to kick Jimbei but he staggers back while blocking.

"Is that all your training from these past two years Luffy?!" He and Luffy charge at each other while getting ready to punch.

Robin causally appears in the line of fire out of nowhere as they're charging. "That's enough you two."

Nami looks at her in shock. "What are you doing there Robin?!"

"Get out of the way Robin!" Luffy says

"Stand down!" Jimbei says as they try to pull back but it was too late.

Rose widens her eyes at Robin. (That's Robin's flower clone?! That means…) She sees Sanji rushing to the battle then uses her wind to lift him and Luffy up while Robin disappears into pink flower petals causing Jimbei to accidentally punch the air and fall on his face.

Sanji looks at the petals in shock. "What happened to Robin-chan?!"

Rose sets them down. "That wasn't Robin. It was her flower clone she made to break up the fight."

Nami sweat drops at Rose's actions. "I don't think I'll ever get used to you knowing stuff like that."

Rose shrugs while Robin shows herself walking towards them from the woods.

Chopper looks at her in shock. "There you are Robin!"

Robin giggles before grinning. "I don't know the circumstances, but friends shouldn't be fighting."

Ace nods. "Why can't we just work together to free the island?"

Jimbei groans as he sits up. "Because, history has been filled with us fearing humans and if you guys attack Hody's crew they will form another rift between fishmen and humans. The people believe Arlong was hunted only because he was a fishman. If you add that Luffy and his crew took down Arlong what do you think will happen with the clash with Hody as well? Even if you all save the island from him everyone will only remember it as the history of humans against fishmen repeating itself…"

Sanji sighs as he smokes his cigarette. "That may be true Jimbei, but we have a lot of friends who would get hurt because of Hody. Hacchi, you keep refusing to tell us who gave you those wounds, but you said Hody will harm any fishman who befriends humans. Since you've helped us that means Hody did this to you right?"

Hacchi widens his eyes at this but stays silent as the others turn to him.

Camie looks at him frantically. "Is this true Hacchin?! Hody did this to you?!"

Hacchi bites his lip before looking at the ground. "Well…"

Luffy looks at him with a serious look on his face while Sanji turns to Jimbei. "This just being your country Jimbei is just another reason for Luffy to fight. To be honest, this place being Whitebeards former territory is just enough for Luffy and Ace to fight here."

Sanji looks at Shirahoshi and Camie before love tornadoing towards them. "Of course this place being Camie and Shirahoshi's home is reason enough for me!"

Ace sweat drops at Sanji's actions before turning to Jimbei. "Sanji's right about me having to fight for Whitebeards old territory. There's no point in stopping me."

Luffy nods. "Just get out of the way Jimbei."

Jimbei shakes his head "Look Luffy, hear me out! We're friends right?"

He nods causing him to continue. "While that's true humans and fishmen have lived for ages without a single friendship. You can't just charge into the fight! If you're going to do it you can't become some barbarian that knocked down Hody. Instead, become this island's hero!"

Luffy shakes his head. "Hero?! No way!"

"What?!"

"We're pirates! I like heroes but I don't want to be one! Do you even know what a hero is?!"

Jimbei and most of the others look at him in confusion as he continues. "For example, you have some meat while pirates eat the meat heroes share it with the people! I want to eat the meat!"

Ace face palms. "That's not what a hero is Luffy…"

Rose and Robin giggle at the explanation while Jimbei sighs. "Fine, I'll give you as much meat as you want if you listen to my plan and help me out!"

Luffy blinks in surprise before nodding. "Got it!"

Chopper looks at him in shock. "It was solved that quickly?!"

Jimbei nods in satisfaction as he points to Megalo. "Ok, here's the plan. First, Megalo and I will get caught on purpose."

The shark jolts as he continues. "We'll infiltrate the plaza that way while you hide in Megalo's mouth. While everyone's distracted someone needs to steal the keys to Neptune's chains."

Nami nods. "Leave the stealing to me and Robin."

Robin nods in agreement. "We can take care of it for you."

Jimbei nods. "Ok, once the king is free I'll call on Luffy to save us. If he makes a flashy entrance then everyone will understand we're working together. Princess, I believe it's best if you wait at a safe place outside the plaza. Once the King is free you take him to safety. Since Rose said your friends will escape you guys go find them then hurry to the plaza."

He turns to Camie, Jimbei, Den and Cato. "How do you guys think the people will react to the plan?"

Den nods with a grin. "I think this will work to gaining their trust since you're the one asking for their help."

Hacchi nods. "Since you're acknowledged by both regular citizens and the people of the Fishman District there shouldn't be a problem."

Cato nods. "As long as the plan doesn't go off without a hitch it could work."

Camie eagerly nods. "If they understand that you bet your life on Luffy-chin to save the king they'll be cheering for them."

Luffy frowns at that. "I'm only doing this because you're asking me to Jimbei, but I don't want anyone cheering for me!"

The others chuckle at that while Jimbei nods. "You have my thanks. There's just one more thing I need to worry about."

Rose quirks an eyebrow in confusion. "What's that?"

"A strategy name."

Zira twitches an eye in irritation. "Forget the strategy name! Let's just go already!"

The others nod while Franky smirks while getting the ship ready. "AOW! That's great, because I made it so that the Sunny is SUPER ready for combat!"

The other turn to the ship to see it floating in the air.

"Whoa!" Chopper and Luffy look at it with stars in their eyes while the others grin at the flying ship.

Ace nods before smirking at Cato. "What do you say Cato? Think you're too old to kick some ass?"

Cato returns the smirk wile cracking his knuckles. "The only thing I might be too old for is dealing with your smart mouth! Let's get going!"

Luffy nods as he goes inside Megalo's mouth. "Once I hear people calling my name I come out right?"

Jimbei nods as he climbs onboard Megalo. "Until then just stay in his mouth."

"Got it."

Shirahoshi climbs on Megalo while everyone except Camie, Hacchi and Den climb onto the Sunny.

"Any idea where to find the others Freckles?" Franky asks.

Rose nods as she grins while looking to the island. "They should be escaping by now, so we should head to the palace." (After we get them comes the Battle Royale… Can't wait for the fight!)

He nods as he steers the ship to the palace while Megalo takes the others to the plaza to commence the surprise attack against Hody's crew.

TO BE CONTINUED


	40. Chapter 40

**A/N: Hi guys, I apologize for updating so late I've been through some crazy things in the past month which I should tell you about since it affects future updates:**

 **1\. I finished college and I have a full time job at Loreal!**

 **2\. I've been brainstorming on the future arcs and have decided on a way to end the story. All good things come to an end, but that's ways to go so don't worry about it :)**

 **This won't affect the future updates, but it distracted me from this update, I made a Christmas special in the story that was harder to write than I thought. I'm putting a hold on the specials until I get more updates on this story in.**

 **One more thing, I've seen a few questions and concerns in the reviews and I think it's best to answer them here:**

 **1\. A guest asked if Rose can use conqueror's haki, and she cannot. Though she has some qualities of a D she wasn't born with that kind of ability.**

 **2\. Another guest asked if Rose would like the song "Shooting Stars" from Owl City and I completely agree. Thanks to you recommending it I got myself addicted to the song and I believe Rose would definitely love it too.**

 **3\. Hill D. Ash: I know you and others have been trying to find out more on Roses appearance. In order to make it easier on everyone I posted a picture of her in my profile in Deviantart as well as made her a profile. I also figured out how to make a cover picture show on this website that has her pre timeskip portrait.**

 **I believe that's it! I hope you guys enjoy and stay awesome! :D**

* * *

Hody is smirking in the center of Gyoncord Plaza along at the sight of Neptune and his three sons beaten and chained to the stakes.

"Jahahaha, what a sight this is!"

Mamboshi cringes at his injuries. "What ridiculous strength…"

Fukaboshi turns to his father. "I apologize father…"

Neptune shakes his head. "You don't need to apologize. They used a drug for strength…"

Ryuboshi grits his teeth. "How's the country going to survive?"

The civilians who are watching from above the platform stayed silent in horror as the fishmen pirates start cheering.

"Let's burn them alive!"

"No, let's skewer them!"

Hody glares at her subordinates. "Silence!"

Everyone immediately lost their voice causing him to continue. "We can't kill them yet. There's still no report of Shirahoshi's death. If we can't lure her out then holding them hostage is pointless…"

Mamboshi glares at him while struggling with his chains. "DON'T YOU DARE HURT OUR SISTER! SHE'S NOT A THREAT!"

Hody chuckles before smirking at the prince. "Did you honestly think I didn't know about her Prince Mamboshi? It's quite the opposite, the one I want to destroy the most is the mermaid who can call the sea kings."

The royal family widens their eyes at this when members of Hody's crew call out to him. "CAPTAIN! WE GOT SHIRAHOSHI AND JIMBEI!"

The members of the royal family and the citizens watched in horror as the pirates slammed Shirahoshi, Jimbei and Megalo to the ground with all three of them tied in chains.

The royal mermen look at the princess in shock. "Shirahoshi!"

Shirahoshi tears up as she looks at her family. "Father-sama! Brother-samas!"

Hody laughs in victory. "Jahahaha! I never thought this could be so easy! The only thing left is to figure out how the Straw Hats will respond. I'm sure they're at Neptune's palace finding out that they were too late to save their friends and are furious. But no matter, preparations have already been made for them."

He snaps his fingers to signal his army of henchmen and human slaves to the plaza causing the watching citizens to tremble.

"Who are these guys?!"

Hody keeps his smirk as he turns to his crew. "My fishmen capable of wielding weapons lead to a total of 70,000. The human slaves that we captured in the past month are a total of 30,000. Altogether, we have a total of 100,000 outlaws waiting for the Straw Hats!"

His fishmen army cheered while Hody looked up to the cliffs where the civilians are watching. "We've gathered these slaves to the point where it totals thousands in our army! Their own species were ashamed of them and now the doors to their homes are for the taking! Are you all going to run, die or join us?! The decision is yours!"

Madame Shirley floats up to the edge of the cliff. "Causing such a disturbance in a public plaza. Don't get carried away with yourself!"

Hody looks up to glare at the shark mermaid. "How nostalgic, what do you want Madame Shirley?"

"Since you're acting like the man in charge I figured that I should tell you something. I made a prediction earlier today that a man will destroy Fishman Island."

Hody smirks at this. "So I'm the one you saw in your vision?"

"No, the man who will destroy this island is Straw Hat Luffy. It's definitely not you."

The other civilians look at her in shock before talking.

"What does that mean?"

"Does that mean Hody's not destined to rule the island?"

Hody glares at Madame Shirley then shoots her in the shoulder. The citizens rush to her aid while Hody begins ranting.

"Nonsense! What are you getting at? I'm different from your older brother Arlong! When I was a kid your brother Arlong was admired by all in the Fishman District, but he lost it all to humans! But we obtained power from the plan I put into action 10 years ago! Want to know how it started? Queen Otohime, who you all held so dear… I was the one who killed her!"

Almost everyone including Hody's own henchmen were completely mortified by the news.

Jimbei was the first to speak. "What did you say?!"

The lower members of Hody's crew snapped out of it, but they were still startled.

"YOU REALLY KILLED THE QUEEN CAPTAIN?!"

The higher ups in his crew were chuckling. "You idiots didn't notice?"

Hody nods while explaining. "That day, I paid a human pirate to start the fire that day to create a distraction. During the panic, I shot the queen when no one was looking. I even shot the human to set him up as the assassin!"

Neptune glares at him while furiously struggling with his chains. "YOU BASTARD!"

Hody punches the king in the stomach to shut him up then turns to Shirahoshi while smirking. "She was such a bother right Shirahoshi?! Saying that revenge against humans was bad! Crying all over the island about getting along with humans! It made me sick seeing her do it! What do you think of her killer?"

Tears starts falling from Shirahoshi's eyes as she looks at Hody softly. "… I already knew."

Everyone widens their eyes at her statement while Hody glares at her. "What do you mean you knew?!"

Shirahoshi keeps weeping while explaining. "Megalo used to be the Neptune Army's pet. When the incident happened he saw everything and told me in secret…"

Jimbei turns to her in astonishment. "If you knew then why didn't you tell us?!"

"If I told anyone then they would hold resentment towards Hody, and that would make mother sad. I made a promise with her on her deathbed that Whoever the killer was no matter where they're from to not hold hatred against them."

Her brothers were bewildered at her statement until Fukaboshi spoke up. "For 10 years you obeyed mothers wish?! You kept this truth to yourself all this time?!"

The others look at her softly until Hody started laughing. "Megalo, you made the right choice to tell this stupid woman! If you had told anyone else our plans would've been crushed! Jahahaha!"

Shirahoshi's family and Jimbei glare at him while he continues. "Listen up Shirahoshi! We call that stupidity in the real world! Because you didn't hold any hatred against me this country will go to ruin! Because of you, your family and the good people of Fishman Island will die!"

Shirahoshi widens her eyes at this before Jimbei starts yelling. "THAT'S NOT TRUE! DON'T LISTEN TO HIM SHIRAHOSHI! YOU DID NOTHING WRONG!"

Hody keeps his smirk while turning to the mermen and gets in a stance. "What else would it be but wrong?! Yabu Same!" He uses his fishman karate to shoot water bullets from his hand and fires at the mermen.

The citizens were screaming as they see the king and princes badly wounded and fall unconscious while Hody is laughing at the scene.

"This is really happening…"

"This is insane!"

Some of the fish children run up to Madame Shirley while her wounds are being treated.

"Madame Shirley! When will that pirate come to destroy the island?!"

Madame Shirley quirks an eyebrow. "I don't know, I never see a specific point in the future when I have a vision. It could happen tomorrow, or even a year from now…"

The fish boy starts clenching his fists. "I-I want it to happen right now!"

Shirley widens her eyes at this while listening to the kids' desperate pleas.

"If he rampages the island now it would be bad for us, but it would be bad for them too!"

"I want it to happen now too! I don't want the king to die!"

The adults look at the children softly before coming to a realization. "They're right!"

"I want that too!"

"HEY STRAW HAT LUFFY! IF YOU WANT TO DESTROY THE ISLAND DO IT NOW!"

"RAMPAGE THE ISLAND NOW!"

"IF YOU'RE ANYWHERE ON THE ISLAND COME HERE!"

"COME ON STRAW HAT!"

Hody groans at the crowds chanting. "I guess this is what it means to grasp for straws. Don't they get that Shirley's just making up lies?"

He turns to Neptune and gets ready to deliver the final blow. "I'LL PULL YOU ALL BACK TO REALITY RIGHT NOW! LOOK CLOSELY AS KING NEPTUNE'S HEAD FLIES THROUGH THE AIR!"

The crowd screams at what he's about to do when Shirahoshi cries.

"LUFFY-SAMA! PLEASE PROTECT FATHER-SAMA!"

Megalo spits Luffy out of his mouth while the crowd looks at him in confusion. Before anyone can react however, Luffy uses second gear to rush to Hody and kicks him in the gut before he could kill Neptune to send him flying to the cliff wall.

The crowd looks at him in utter shock for a moment before cheering while members of Hody's crew were slack jawed at what they just saw.

"He was in the shark's mouth?!"

Jimbei sighs in exasperation. "He came out too early, but it couldn't be helped. Everyone else, hurry up!"

One of Hody's crewmembers looks at him in confusion. "Who are you talking to?"

"Don't worry Jimbei; we were hurrying up from the start."

The crewmembers turn to Nami's voice but couldn't see her until she started using her staff to cancel the mirage she made to hide herself. "It would have been a miracle for Luffy to stick to a plan. Mirage dissolved."

She made herself visible to everyone around her causing Hody's crew to jump in shock while she continued her conversation with Jimbei. "I gave Robin the keys to the chains."

Jimbei nods in approval. "Good work."

The crewmember that was holding the keys searches his pocket to see that they were gone. "WHAT THE HELL?! WHEN DID YOU TAKE THEM?!"

They turn to see that Robin unlocked the royal family's chains, but before they could react a shadow was looming over them to see Neptune's pet whale and the Sunny flying above them.

Franky smirks as he prepares the Sunny to attack. "GAON CANNON!"

The Sunny fires a light beam at the pirates causing a large enough distraction for the whale to swoop in and get Neptune and his sons away from the plaza.

Neptune starts regaining consciousness and looks down at the crowd. "What happened?"

Fukaboshi stares down at the crowd. "It appears that Jimbei made a plan with the Straw Hats."

Ryuboshi and Mamboshi join the two mermen as they all looks down to see Rose using her wind to ease the Sunnys landing then jumps off the ship along with Ace, Cato, Zira and the crew.

Rose smirks in excitement while staring at the fishmen pirates. (Alright, time for some ass-kicking!)

Luffy joins the crew when the civilians start yelling down to him.

"STRAW HAT! DO YOU REALLY MEAN TO TAKE DOWN THE ISLAND?!"

"WHY DID YOU OCCUPY NEPTUNE'S PALACE?!"

"ARE YOU FRIENDS OR FOES?!"

Luffy tilts his hat up before crossing his arms over his chest. "Friends or foes? Stuff like that… YOU DECIDE!"

The Island's people simply stared at the rubber captain before cheering him on. The fishman crew yells at them to shut up while the crew was talking among themselves.

Brook looks up at Shirahoshi. "Mermaid princess, how beautiful you are! Yohohoho! Excuse me, but could you show me your panties-?"

He was cut off by Nami who whacked him on the head. "Shut up!"

Zira sweat drops as she watches Brook flirting with the princess from the railing before turning to Rose. "Why did he ask a mermaid for panties?"

Rose shrugs. "I've learned not to question it."

Robin turns to Chopper. "What was with the whale?"

"We found him on the way, so he decided to join us."

Cato nods. "He refused to be left out when he could help the king."

Ace grins at that. "Can't blame him."

Franky grins down from the Sunny. "Oi, if anyone wants to help demonstrate my SUPER new weapons then come up here!"

Usopp, Chopper and Nami nod as they rush into the ship with Franky while Luffy turns to Shirahoshi.

"I gotta say, Shirahoshi did a good job back there."

Jimbei nods. "Yes, I haven't expected her to get caught and reveal something like that."

Shirahoshi looks at Luffy in surprise. "Luffy-sama, did you just say my name? Up until now you always called me crybaby."

Luffy nods as he grins up at her. "Yeah, I don't know the details but it looks like you aren't as big of a crybaby as I thought you were."

Shirahoshi widens her eyes at this while Jimbei nods. "It's true Shirahoshi, it must have been hard keeping a secret like that all those years."

The princess starts tearing up at his words. "I'm very sorry for selfishly keeping the truth to myself…"

Jimbei shakes his head. "It's fine, you were trying to stop the hatred from spreading onto the island. If everyone can come to feel the same then we can stop the fighting between fishmen and humans. Let me help you make your wish come true."

Shirahoshi couldn't hold back anymore and starts bawling. "Y-yes, thank you so much! WAAH!"

Rose flies up and pats her shoulder. (Shirahoshi's definitely a strong person. If I was in her place there's no way I could have stayed quiet in the tower…)

"VANDER DECKEN WAS COMPLETELY USELESS!" The crew turns to a furious Hody who punched the cliff beside him causing the rock to crack.

Hody starts glaring at Jimbei as he returns to his crew. "I fell right into your trap Jimbei. I should have guessed this was the case when you didn't resist as much as you could have after getting caught. I can't believe how friendly you got with these humans! Don't you remember how Fisher Tiger was killed by humans?! Your sort that would side with humans instead of taking vengeance are even more cowardly than Neptune! But I'll fix that once I become king of this country! I'll make sure no one will oppose us fishmen, especially the pirates!"

He smirks as he points to his human pirate slaves. "Take a good look at the pirates under my hold Straw hats. This will be your future while I'm the one who will be pirate king! Just what do you think you can do with 13 against 100,000?!"

Zira widens her eyes at what he said. (There are 14 of us! Did he not count me in?! What the hell?! I'LL SHOW THEM NOT TO UNDERESTIMATE THE BIRD!)

She goes to open her mouth to screech but Rose covers her beak with her hand.

"Wait until the playing field's a little more even Zira."

The falcon tilts her head in confusion before looking to see Luffy using his conqueror's haki to knock out 50,000 of Hody's men.

The civilians were completely shocked at what they witnessed. "WHAT JUST HAPPENED?!"

Robin stares at Luffy wide eyed. "He can use haki?!"

Jimbei was astonished at what he just saw. "He managed to get this far in 2 years?!"

Sanji sighs as he smokes his cigarette. "So Luffy had conquerors haki after all. Lucky bastard."

Zoro chuckles in amusement. "If he couldn't do this then he shouldn't be captain."

Ace sighs in disappointment. "He beat me to the punch. Oh well, we can take care of 50,000."

Rose nods in agreement. "It's no problem."

Luffy turns to Hody and glares at him. "You're Hody right? You can be whatever king you want, but… There's only room for one Pirate King and that's gonna be me!"

Hody widens his eyes at this when Luffy jumps then uses third gear to grow his hand and punch at the crowd causing the crew to join the fray.

Rose looks around to see that she's surrounded by fishmen.

One of the pirates widen their eyes when they take a look at her face. "Hold on, isn't that Wind Rider Rose?! The demon girl that invaded the war 2 years ago?!"

"Holy shit, you're right!"

"That's not possible! The Devil of Hell's Comet was supposed to be dead!"

Rose grins in pure excitement while staring at the crowd. (Oh man, I'm more pumped for fighting than Ban is when he fights Meliodas! Let's get this party started!)

She smirks as she flies above them 10 feet in the air while focusing to create 2 tiny air balls floating in each of her hands. "If I'm dead then these storm bombs won't hurt a bit."

She throws them at random spots in the crowd and watches them grow while falling at a growingly fast rate. The pirates look at the falling balls nervously until they hit the ground and turn into large air domes that are sending dozens of fishmen who are trapped inside flying from the air pressure. The storm bombs quickly dissolve after the impact and released the trapped pirates in their hold causing them to fall unconscious.

The pirates who aren't hurt by the storm bombs stare at their fallen comrades in shock before getting ready to attack her, but they lost sight of her and start looking for her frantically.

"Looking for someone gentlemen?"

They quickly look behind them to see Rose smirking behind them while turning her arms into tornadoes, but before they could react Rose flew through the crowd and started the twister punching everyone in her path.

When a large fishman in a thick suit of armor tries to attack her from behind she turns the end of the tornado on her right arm into a drill. "Twister Drill!"

She uses the drill to cut through the armor then dulls the drill once it was about to reach flesh to twister punch him and send him flying into the crowd behind him. (I love this drill, but it could be gruesome if it hits someone's body. Still, this fight is totally awesome!)

When the fishmen tried to attack her all at once she creates a hurricane around herself to send them flying then cancelled it out to continue her assault while Zira flies above a group of fishmen about to charge Shirahoshi.

"I'll teach you jerks not to count me out! Sound Grenades!" Zira spits out small voice bubbles at the fishmen that were about to charge at Shirahoshi and when they reached contact blew up into voice bombs at a frequency loud enough to knock them out.

Some of the fishmen that are using guns as weapons look up at Zira in shock.

"The bird's a pirate?!"

"I thought it was a pet!"

"Let's shoot it down!"

They aim their guns but before they could pull the trigger they were attacked from behind by Cato's fishman karate. He keeps a smirk on his face as he's to fight the surrounding fishman pirates. "I might not be as good at fishman karate as Boss Jimbei, but I can still hold my own against pirates!"

Ace smirks as he turns his arms into flames. "Not as much as I can!"

He jumps up and creates small green orbs from his fingertips to surround his enemies then blew them up before they could react. When the survivors charged at him he launched fire fists at them large enough to dissolve any fishman karate moves that they launched.

Brook grins as he starts playing his music. "I couldn't agree more Ace-san. The only thing missing is some music! Yohohoho!"

Brook hypnotizes the pirates who aimed their guns at the princess with his music then struck them while they were distracted. Zoro backed him up by slicing every pirate that tried to attack the skeleton then stared slicing any enemy he came across.

Sanji uses sky walk for the first time with the crew to avoid the surrounding fishmen that were about to attack him.

Luffy grins up in excitement while punching his enemies left and right. "Whoa! Sanji's flying!"

Robin uses her devil fruit ability to put her surrounding foes in choke holds then looks up in amusement. "That's CP9's move. I'm impressed."

Sanji sees some of the pirates using bubbles to fly towards the princess then sky walks in front of them. "Oi, if you want the princess you have to go through me!"

Sanji turns around and gives Shirahoshi a goofy grin while giving her a thumbs up. "Not to worry princess, your knight is here to protect you!"

Shirahoshi smiles at that while Sanji turns back to the goons and sets his leg aflame.

"DIABLE JAMBE! POELLE A FRIRE SPECTRE!" He kicks down the flying pirates easily while below him Robin uses her devil fruit to create a giant pair of legs and stomps on her enemies.

A group of fishmen with poisonous weapons Robin and gets their weapons ready.

"Let's get her poison squad!"

"Yea, no matter how large those legs are they can't handle our venom!"

They start charging when they hear Franky yelling. "SOLDIER DOCK SYSTEM! CHANNEL 4! RHINO BIKE!"

The group looks at the ship in confusion until they see Franky leaving the dock system on a rhinoceros looking motor bike and riding towards them.

Franky smirks as he rides towards the crowd and starts running them over. "What was that about poison?! If you think you can poison this then be my guest! This baby's made of steel!"

Franky keeps riding when he's about to be confronted by a large fishman swinging a giant flail.

"Leave it to me! I'll crush that bike!"

He swings towards the bike when he was blasted from behind.

Franky turns from the fishman to see Chopper riding on top of the tank he made with Nami and Usopp driving. "Good work driving the Brachiotank guys!"

Brook, Rose and Luffy look at the tank in pure excitement. "AWESOME!"

Chopper tears up in happiness. "Call me commander Chopper from now on! Usopp, open fire!"

"Roger that, commander Chopper!" Usopp fires the cannons while Nami steers the tank.

The crowd starts cheering when they see how the crew was taking care of the fishman pirates causing Hody to grit his fangs.

"What ignorant fools…" He turns around and starts yelling. "COME HERE KRAKEN!"

Surume makes it over to the plaza and looks down at Hody nervously while listening to his orders.

"There are only a few of them Kraken! Crush them and put an end to this idiocy!"

Surume looks at the crew nervously while they're fighting.

Rose turns to see Surume then smiles while twister punching a fishman in the face and waves with her other hand. "Hey Surume, how's it going? Wanna join the fight?"

Surume widens his eyes while Luffy waves at him with a toothy grin. "So this was where you were Surume! You remember me? We're friends!"

Surume starts smiling before joining the fight against the fishman pirates until he's next to the princess and protecting her.

The higher ups in Hody's crew were slack jawed at what they're seeing. "HE SWITCHED SIDES?!"

Luffy keeps smiling while fighting. "Surume, you're in charge of protecting Shirahoshi!"

Surume nods while Shirahoshi turns to him. "Please take care of me Surume-sama."

He scratches his head happily while fighting off any fishman pirates that comes near them.

Rose smiles as she keeps fighting her crowd, but stays close to Surume. (As long as I stay near Surume I can stop him from hurting Shirahoshi.)

Choppers tank keeps moving until it stops and Chopper looks around. "Where is everyone?"

Usopp looks through the scope to see no one is around them. "They probably ran away! Now's our chance to attack the leaders!"

Nami looks through another scope to look around when the tank starts shaking. "What the hell?!"

Usopp looks up in confusion. "Hey commander Chopper, what's going on?!"

"I don't- WHOA!"

The tank falls into the pit trap making the vehicle unable to move.

The cookie cutter shark fishman named Daruma from Hody's higher ups digs himself out of the tunnels he made and starts laughing.

"Kya Kya! I hope you enjoyed my special Daruma Fall! Now all that's left is to make the bike idiot-"

He cuts himself off when he sees Franky riding towards him. "Hey guys, what's going on with the tank?!"

Franky keeps riding until he falls into the pit trap. "Damnit, a pitfall?!"

Daruma's eyes bug out at what he saw. "IS HE A MORON?!"

Usopp, Nami and Chopper get out of the tank slowly while Franky gets up in irritation.

"That bastard! I'll show him!" Franky tosses Nami, Usopp, and Chopper out of the hole before they could say anything.

Nami sits up and glares down at Franky. "What was that for?!"

Franky smirks while turning to the two vehicles "Because this is gonna be a one person vehicle now! It's time to transform!"

The three pirates look at him in confusion until they see him combining the tank and the bike to become a giant metal robot that looks like Franky then climbs inside.

"LET ME INTODUCE YOU GUYS TO SHOGUN FRANKY! AOW!"

Usopp and Chopper look at him with stars in their eyes. "THAT'S SO COOL!"

After watching Franky fighting Nami turns around to see some fish men pirates about to attack her then uses her climatact to create storm clouds, and shoot them with lightning.

Usopp turns around to the charging fishmen and gets his slingshot ready. "I'm not gonna hesitate anymore! Bamboo Javelin!"

Usopp shoots some bamboo seeds on the ground by the enemy's feet that grow instantly grow to attack his enemies. He grins in excitement as he keeps up the fight while Daruma starts digging a new tunnel.

"Kya, Kya! I'll be sure to take care of the robot with my- Huh? Is someone else digging?" He looks around in confusion when he hears someone else digging until he was sent flying out of the holes. "WHAT THE HELL?!"

He gets up to see Chopper jumping out of the holes in his new horn point. "You're not the only one who can dig tunnels!"

Luffy turns to Chopper in amazement. "Chopper?! You learned how to turn into a stag beetle?!"

"I'M NOT A BEETLE! In the 2 years I improved my transformation! I can freely change into 6 transformation points while I only need the rumble ball for one now!"

Luffy nods before getting back to fighting. "Great work!"

Chopper blushes before getting into a happy dance. "Don't compliment me in the middle of a fight jerk! It's not like I'm happy!"

Daruma grits his teeth. "I'm gonna rip you to shreds you coral bastard!"

Chopper snaps out of it before glaring at him. "They're not coral, they're horns!" He rushes to fight Daruma, but he went underground again causing Chopper to follow while Surume keeps protecting Shirahoshi.

The kraken stops fighting when he hears Hody calling out to him.

"Great job in capturing Shirahoshi Kraken. Make sure you crush her."

Surume was hesitant on the order causing Hody to glare at him. "Have you forgotten about your brothers who are living in the North Pole? Since we know where they live we can kill them anytime we want."

He turns away from Surume while watching the rest of the fight. "If that's what you want then keep fighting my crew."

Surume looks at him nervously while Jimbei glares at Hody. "He kept him under his thumb by threatening his brothers?!"

Surume closes his eyes as he goes to crush Shirahoshi, but she wasn't in his grasp. He looks around until he sees Shirahoshi flying with Rose.

Rose looks at him softly as she keeps them at a safe distance. "Sorry Surume, you can't hurt her."

Surume glares at her as he goes to reach for them.

"SURUME!" He stops himself to Luffy's voice then turns to see Luffy looking up at him.

"You obeyed him because you want to protect your brothers?" Luffy places his hand over his hat while grinning. "Shishishi, in that case let me protect them too."

Surume widens his eyes while Luffy turns to Hody and walks towards him. Hundreds of fishmen come charging at Luffy, but Ace, Zoro, and Sanji cover him as he keeps walking.

Ace blocks a giant fishman's attack then sees more going after Luffy from behind causing him to use his conquerors haki to know them out before they could touch him. He smirks as he keeps fighting off the fishmen. "Can't let you interfere with my brothers fight."

Luffy keeps going when a group of fishmen charge him, but before they reach him he jumps and kicks Hody in the face.

Hody quickly gets up and glares at him while getting in a stance. "I hope you're ready to die!"

Luffy returns the glare. "There's no way I'm dying!"

The two captains faced off while Rose is still flying with Shirahoshi. "I need to get back to the fight. Will you be ok with staying with Surume?"

Shirahoshi nods causing Rose to start descending with her when the sky begins to gets dark.

Shirahoshi looks around in confusion. "Why did it become so dark?"

Rose stops moving while remembering what's going on. (SHIT!)

She and everyone else looks up to see the giant ship Noah heading towards the island.

"Why is the boat heading towards the plaza?!"

"Who the hell is moving it?!"

Everyone stops talking when the giant puffer fish Wadatsumi falls from the ship right in front of Surume.

Hody widens his eyes when he sees the giant fishman. "You're from Deckens crew!"

Wadatsumi ignores him as he looks up at the ship. "CAPTAIN, I FELL! STOP DA SHIP PLEASE! I DON'T WANNA DIE!"

Usopp widens his eyes at what he said. "Did he say die?!"

Robin nods. "No doubt if the ship keeps falling the ocean would be dyed red with our blood."

Chopper trembles at that. "Don't say such scary things!"

Hody glares up at the ship. "DECKEN, YOU CRAZY PIRATE! THIS WASN'T PART OF THE PLAN!"

Decken smirks as he ignores Hody and steps out onto the deck with a den den mushi. "Bahohohoho! Sorry Wadatsumi, but saving you is impossible! When I use my ability, anything I throw will keep flying until it reaches the target. You'll die along with the island, so that I can kill Shirahoshi! Consider yourself a sacrifice!"

Wadatsumi looks at him with a heartbroken expression while Jimbei widens his eyes at this.

"He managed to throw Noah like he did with the axes?!"

Cato clenches his teeth in rage. "That bastard, he's wants to destroy the island along with the princess?!"

Rose turns to Shirahoshi, but she wasn't flying in her wind anymore. "What the-?!"

She looks up to see her floating above her on a bubble. "DECKEN, I'M OVER HERE!"

Nami widens her eyes when she sees her. "What's she doing?!"

"Shirahoshi is the target, so she's moving herself away from the island!" Jimbei says.

Shirahoshi keeps yelling to Decken. "YOUR TARGET IS MY LIFE ISN'T IT?! THEN JUST TAKE IT! LEAVE THE REST OF THE ISLAND ALONE!"

The citizens were moved to tears by their princess' words while Decken keeps his smirk up. "You plan on taking this disaster with your own body, so that you can protect the kingdom?! Then die in this beautiful moment and live on forever in my heart!"

He throws a knife at Shirahoshi, but before the blade can touch her Rose flies in front of her and blasts the knife away with a wind cannon.

The citizens widen their eyes at Roses actions.

"Wait, that's the Hell's Comet girl?!"

"So it's true that she's alive?!"

Shirley nods after her wound was fully treated. "That's her, but her name's Rose."

The others nod as they cheer for her. "Good job protecting Shirahoshi!"

Decken clenches his teeth. "Stay out of our love witch!"

Rose glares at him while flipping him off. "Shut up pedophile! I'm not letting you stab her!"

Shirahoshi looks at her in awe. "Rose-sama…"

Rose turns to her with a serious look on her face. "Shirahoshi, go out to sea! Swim away as fast as you can at an angle! Whatever you do, try to get the ship not directly above the island! I'll cover you!" (If she leaves at an angle we won't have to worry about Noah falling on the island.)

Shirahoshi nods before rushing to the bubble's exit. "Thank you!"

Rose nods as she deflects Decken's knives that he's throwing at Shirahoshi while following closely behind.

Zira looks around to see the others staring. (With Rose there I'm sure the princess will be fine, I can use this chance to- Wait!) She looks around to see Hody missing. "Guys, where's Hody?!"

The crew looks around until Brook points to the ship. "There he is! He's on the underside of Noah!"

They look to see Hody climbing up one of the chains that are dangling from the ship.

Sanji starts sky walking towards the ship when Luffy runs after him. "SANJI! I'M GONNA FLY UP THERE! YOU GUYS LOOK AFTER THE PLAZA!"

Sanji nods. "Alright, are you gonna be alright though?! The boat'll be in the water!"

Luffy turns to Jimbei. "Is the inside of the boat full of water Jimbei?!"

"I'm not sure, but since Decken is able to go inside the boat it should have some air. Use this bubble making coral just in case!" He tosses the coral to Luffy causing him to nod before yelling up.

"ROSE, ONCE SHIRAHOSHI'S OUT OF THE ISLAND LOOK AFTER THE PLAZA! HODY'S MINE!"

Rose deflects another knife before nodding. "GOT IT!"

Luffy stretches his arms to grab Sanji's leg while the chef turns to the ship.

"I leave Shirahoshi-chan to you Luffy! Ready for launch?" Sanjis asks causing Luffy to nod.

"Do it!"

Sanji kicks the air as hard as he can to catapult his captain onto one of the ships chains.

Luffy clings onto the chain then looks down to see that the civilians are pulling down on one of the chains to buy Shirahoshi time to escape.

"Pull everyone! We gotta slow this ship down even for a little bit!"

"Don't let Noah fly off!"

Shirahoshi starts tearing up at their gesture while getting close to the exit. "Everyone…"

Rose looks at them softly before turning to Shirahoshi. "Shirahoshi, I'm gonna make sure they don't get hurt. Will you be ok from here?"

Shirahoshi nods as she keeps moving to the exit while Rose turns her body into wind to start flying to the chain while Hody glares down at the civilians.

"They can't be serious. They won't be able to move the boat at all." He starts getting his water bullets ready while Luffy glares at him.

"HEY! LEAVE THEM ALONE!"

He shoots his water bullets at the people but Rose rematerializes 10 feet from the chain with her haki infused staff in her hands. "Wind Scythe!"

She swings her staff to create a large wind slash shaped like a crescent moon to cut up the water bullets before they harmed anyone. Rose cancels out the haki on her staff while lightly panting. (Looks like upgrading my wind blade with haki worked, but it's still a little draining.)

Luffy grins down at her while using the coral to make a bubble around his body. "Way to go Rose! I got it from here!"

Rose nods up to him then turns to the fishmen who are holding the chain down. "You guys did great, but you'd better go before Hody tries to hurt you again."

Before they can protest Rose uses her wind to push them off the chain and gently onto the cliff side while Hody glares at her. "So that's the demon girl I heard about."

He tries shooting her with water bullets but she easily dodges then flips him off with her free hand.

"You're not even worth me using my energy grandpa." (I should save up my energy for the finale anyway.)

Hody clenches his fangs before aiming his water bullets at her. "I'M NOT THAT OLD!"

(Not yet, you're not.) Rose darkly chuckles while dodging his water bullets before Shirahoshi makes out of the island causing the ship, Luffy and Hody to follow her into the ocean.

Rose starts landing and sees a new fight breaking out between the crew and the fishmen pirates.

"AAAH! CHOPPER'S GONE BERSERK!"

Rose turns to Usopp's yelling to see Chopper in his monster form beating up his enemies before smiling down to Usopp.

"Hehe, I'm fine Usopp."

Usopp widens his eyes at this. "Chopper?! You didn't go crazy?!"

The giant reindeer shakes his head before explaining. "After training my body for 2 years I made it so that after eating a rumble ball I can fight in this form for 3 minutes while conscious. Now I can use this form without hurting you guys."

Usopp grins in excitement. "That's awesome! That form is pretty amazing now that it won't make you go berserk!"

Chopper lightly blushes before going into a happy dance while still in monster form. "Y-you think hearing that will make me happy?! No way, you jerk!"

"STOP DOING THAT!"

Zira widens her eyes at his form. (That's Chopper?! Cool! I better make sure I'm not in the way! I didn't just sit back and watch Rose train these past two years! I powered up my moves too!) She flies above a group of 100 pirates and surrounds them in an invisible bubble. "SONIC BOMB!"

She creates a screech in the bubble powerful enough to make their ears bleed as they fall unconscious.

Ace smirks as his shoulders start catching fire in front of his surrounding enemies. "I'd better finish too. FIRE STORM!" He surrounds himself in a wall of flames strong enough to burn the fishmen around him that tried to hit him with their fishmen karate moves.

Rose grins as she lands with her staff in hand and watches the others go all out. (The crew really did grow. There's still some time before it's all over, so I should wait before-) She snaps out of her thoughts when she senses someone about to attack her with a sword from behind and dodges then looks to see herself surrounded by 800 fishmen.

The fishmen start smirking as they get their swords ready.

"Perfect timing outsider, with you out of energy from protecting Shirahoshi we can easily kill you. You were even too weak to hit Hody at close range."

Rose couldn't help but smirk at that while keeping a grip on her staff. "Sorry to disappoint, but I didn't hit him because my captain wants to fight him. Besides, you guys _might_ give me a better challenge than he could, so let's play."

The pirates start glaring at her attitude. "What was that?!"

"Let's kill this cocky bitch!"

The pirates start charging her while she dodges their attacks gracefully while whacking them on the head with her staff. She jumps to dodge the fishmen who were charging at her in opposite directions causing them to crash into each other. A new group of fishmen were waiting above her, but she flew around to dodge then uses her staff to help her create a gust of wind to slam them to the crowd.

Rose kept the smirk on her face as she lands while putting the staff back in her back strap then gets in a stance. "What was that about killing me?" (Now should be a good time to finish it.)

They start glaring at her before they start smirking.

"So you can use haki too?"

Rose quirks an eyebrow until she sees them infuse their weapons in armament haki. (What the hell?!)

"Hahaha, surprised aren't you?! We've been training on armament for the past month."

"What better way to practice than to kill a monster."

Rose widens her eyes at that. (So they're newbs in haki. They want a monster do they? Well, I'll be more than happy to give them one.)

She starts smirking while the wind around her starts picking up. "If you think you can finish me off then go ahead and try. However, after playing dead for the past two years I refuse to be taken out by the likes of you! Wind Armor!"

Before the mob can take a step they brace themselves from the strong wind around them then look to see Rose covering herself in the air currents to create a body of wind around her.

The men look at the armor nervously for the only part of Rose they can see was her purple eyes glaring at them.

"Holy crap, she really is a monster!"

One of them shakes his head before turning to the others. "She's just a logia user! We can still take her! Let's kill her while we can still use our haki!"

The guys nod as they charge with their haki infused weapons but Rose expanded the armor to look like a giant ball surrounding her to block the weapons before they could touch her and pushed them back. After repelling them she countered with a twister punch that's twice the size of her normal twister punch. (There's no way I'd let myself stay hidden from the others these past two years without making myself strong enough to keep up!)

She shrinks the armor to normal size before charging the crowd as fast as the wind can take her while twister punching every enemy in sight.

Ace finished blasting his enemies before seeing Rose fighting in her armor. "What the hell?!"

Robin and Nami finish their fights before watching Rose fighting off the fishmen with Ace.

"Is that Rose?!" Nami asks.

Robin nods . "I believe she used that move at Thriller Bark, but she didn't have any control."

Zira flies next to them then chuckles. "That's her wind armor. She managed to upgrade it in the two years, watch."

They look to see Rose expanding the armor into a ball again to block their attacks then flew above them and changing the armor into a large tornado to send her opponents flying.

Zira points to the tornado. "Rose is able to expand the armor into that ball to protect herself from haki users. Also, she can change the armors shape to different forms like a tornado, a giant person, and even a large drill."

Ace widens his eyes at this. "Are you serious?!"

Zira nods. "Yup, her twister punches and kicks are also twice as strong in that form especially when she turns into a giant. Take a look."

They look to see Rose use the armor to make herself almost the same size as Chopper's monster point causing most of her remaining enemies to sweat drop.

A swordfish fishman goes to attack when he runs out of energy to hold his haki then sees everyone else unable to use haki anymore. "Umm, this is the part where we run right?"

Most of the others quickly nod as they make a run for it while about 50 brave souls still want to fight.

The remaining pirates glare at her as they get in a stance. "Those cowards! We'll show them!"

Robin widens her eyes while watching Rose take care of the last of the pirates facing her. "She really has gained control of her abilities over the two years hasn't she?"

Zira grins at that. "Yea, she trained really hard to control her powers, but she wanted to perfect this move the most."

Ace chuckles at that. "Looks like it paid off."

Zira nods before sighing in exasperation. "Yea, but there's a catch…"

Nami looks at her suspiciously. "What catch?"

Zira points to Rose again causing them to see Rose knocking out the last of the pirates before shrinking the armor back to normal then cancelling it out, and falling to her hands and knees while breathing heavily.

"The longest I've seen her able to stay in that form is 8 minutes and that's because she only used twister punches. Depending on how large she makes her armor or her moves she loses that form faster. If she doesn't cancel it out before using up all her energy she passes out, but even after doing that she gets exhausted. From the looks of it, she's at her limit now."

The three pirates widen their eyes at this before rushing to Rose.

"Why did she use that move in the first place?!" Nami asked

Zira shakes her head. "I think she wanted to prove that she's at everyone's level. In her defense, she did a great job in the fight."

Ace looks around to see that Rose managed to knock out hundreds of enemies while in her wind armor. "Yea, it was a good move. Still…" (She's just as reckless as Luffy! Those two were meant for each other…)

While running Robin sees a fishman staggering up behind Rose, but before he could do anything to Rose she crosses her arms over her chest. "Seis fleur clutch."

She creates 6 arms at the fishman's upper half and puts him in a hold. When Rose turns around she grabs her staff and whacks him on the head as hard as she could to knock him out.

When the group caught up to Rose she turns to them and waves, but stays seated. "Hey guys, thanks for the hand Robin."

Robin furrows her eyebrows at her. "Was that supposed to be a pun?"

Rose widens her eyes at the accidental pun before giggling. "My bad, it wasn't meant to be."

Zira sighs in exasperation. "You're too carefree… Can you stand?"

Rose uses her staff to her herself stand up while smiling. "Relax, I'm fine. Using my powers is out of the question for a while, but the fight's pretty much done anyway."

She points to see Sanji and Jimbei managing to defeat Wadatsumi with their combined techniques and making themselves the last ones to finish the fight while the others were recovering from their battles.

Any of the fishman pirates who were left standing fled the battle in fear.

Jimbei looks around the plaza astonished. "Incredible, I shouldn't expect less from Luffy's crew."

Cato nods. "They're a lot stronger than I thought they'd be."

Zoro sheathes his swords then smirks at Sanji. "What took you so long ero-cook?"

"Shut it marimo! My enemy was a lot stronger than yours!"

While they were arguing Usopp turns to Franky. "That robot's awesome Franky!"

Franky stays in the robot while grinning. "This baby's my SUPER favorite design! Hey Chopper, can you shrink down yet? Your body's making my robot look small."

Chopper shakes his head. "Sorry, can't shrink on my own." He turns to Rose with excitement in his eyes. "Your wind armor was awesome Rose!"

Rose grins at the compliment. "Not as awesome as your monster point!"

Chopper gets into another happy dance while Brook turns to the girls. "All three of you were amazing out there! Will any of you show me your-"

He was cut off with a whack to the head by Nami. "Knock it off!"

Robin, Ace and Zira laugh at Nami's rage while the citizens were speechless at what they witnessed. When they were about to cheer a shadow loomed over them causing everyone to look up to Noah falling towards the island.

"AAH! THE SHIP'S FALLING TOWARDS US!"

The crew watches quietly as Luffy is doing his best to stop the ship by trying to destroy the ship.

The fishmen start cheering for Luffy to succeed while Rose grits her teeth in frustration. (Shit, Shirahoshi couldn't swim to the side in time…)

Everyone looks up to see that Shirahoshi accidentally called a group of sea kings over to grab Noah and stop it from falling onto the island.

Every fishman on the island stared at the sea kings slack jawed for a moment before cheering as the large group of fish take the ship safely away from them.

"FISHMAN ISLAND IS SAVED!"

Jimbei and Cato worked with the soldiers to capture the knocked out pirates while Chopper shrunk down to his normal size and collapsed.

Usopp crouches down to his level while Robin gently placed Choppers head on her lap. "Are you ok Chopper?"

"Yea, after I use monster point I can't walk for a few hours. I can still treat everyone though."

Nami looks up then widens her eyes at the view. "Isn't that the king and his sons?"

The others look up to see Neptune and his sons floating down to the plaza while carrying Hody and Decken who are both unconscious and tied up in chains.

After putting the two pirates down Fukaboshi turns to his citizens. "Everyone, be rest assured! These men will never be allowed to roam free again!"

The crowd cheers at the announcement while Rose turns to Chopper. "Chopper you have your equipment in your backpack right?"

Chopper quirks an eyebrow. "Yea, are you injured?"

She shakes her head. "If nothing changed then Luffy got bit by Hody while fighting him and is losing blood."

The crew widens their eyes at this. "WHAT?!"

"Robin, can you grab the medical supplies from my bag? I have equipment that can stop the bleeding!" Chopper says causing her to nod as she gently flips him over and gets the supplies ready.

"WAAAH!"

Everyone looks up to see Shirahoshi floating towards them as fast as she can in tears while holding an unconscious and bleeding Luffy in her hands. "PLEASE SAVE HIM! LUFFY-SAMA WON'T STOP BLEEDING!"

Chopper shifts his eyes to the vacant spot next to him. "Lay him down next to me! Robin, I still can't move, so I need you to move me."

Robin nods as she holds him up and moves his limbs for him. Shirahoshi gently places Luffy on the ground while Robin manipulates the doctor's limbs while they treat their captain.

Usopp looks at the weird scene in dread. "I'm extremely concerned about our future battles here!"

Chopper speaks up while doing what he can to treat Luffy. "Just leave it to me, I'll treat him."

Shirahoshi keeps weeping as she looks down at him. "Really? Luffy will be fine."

Chopper stops the bleeding but widens his eyes. "I managed to stop the bleeding, but he bled out too much. He needs a transfusion."

Robin holds him up while he calls out to everyone. "DOES ANYONE HAVE BLOOD TYPE F?! NO ONE IN OUR CREW HAS IT!"

Ace furrows his eyebrows in frustration. (I hate having blood type D…)

Rose looks at Luffy softly while clenching her fists. (I hate scenes like this... I know he'll be fine, but times like these worry me for when I won't know future events anymore...)

The fishmen look at them nervously causing Chopper to stop yelling. "Right, there's a blood law where fishmen can't give humans blood!"

Nami turns to him. "What kind of law is that?!"

Shirahoshi looks down sadly. "My blood type is different, but it's red…"

Robin turns Chopper to the princess. "Sorry, but thanks anyway. Wait, there are humans in town. Let's take him there!"

"That won't be necessary." The others look to see Jimbei walking up to them while rolling up his sleeve. "I have blood type F. I'll give you as much as you need."

Everyone but Rose was shocked at the statement when Robin spoke up. "What about the law?"

"I'm a pirate."

She grins at the statement while helping Chopper get the transfusion ready for Jimbei and Luffy.

The people were smiling in relief that Jimbei stepped up to save him. The minister was about to say something when Neptune placed a hand on his shoulder.

"It's fine."

"Your highness?!"

Neptune nods. "That law is just another curse… We can't hold these grudges anymore." He looks at Jimbei and Luffy softly as the blood is being transferred.

Luffy softly smiles while gaining consciousness. "Jimbei."

Everyone happily smiles at Luffy's recovery while Jimbei chuckles.

"Glad you're conscious Luffy."

Luffy slowly nods while grinning before shouting. "JIMBEI, JOIN MY CREW!"

TO BE CONTINUED


	41. Chapter 41

**A/N: Hey guys, just something I forgot to mentioiin here in the last update. I'm bringing the story up to the current arc which means we're facing Big Mom and the Vinsmokes. I'm already ready to kill every vinsmoke and member of Big Moms crew except for Reiju.**

 **The next chapter is my last one for Fishman Island and then we're going to Punk Hazard! I hope you enjoy! :)**

* * *

After Luffy recovered from the blood transfusion Jimbei, Cato, Shirahoshi, Megalo and the crew snuck away with the Sunny while Neptune was handling the punishments for the remaining fishman pirates.

Shirahoshi floats next to the flying ship while looking at the crew in confusion. "Why did you all leave?"

Zoro huffs before turning to her. "We were made to fight in a showy place. If we stayed at the plaza then we'd have been looked at like heroes. Just thinking about it makes me nauseous."

Shirahoshi tilts her head in confusion. "You do not wish to be treated like a hero?"

"Of course not! Heroes would give their booze away to the people! I want to keep my booze!"

Nami shakes her head tiredly. "Why does everyone think that heroes give away stuff?"

Sanji love tornadoes up to her. "I'll be more than happy to be a hero if it meant giving you my love Nami-swaan!"

Nami smiles at the gesture. "Thanks Sanji."

"Why'd you refuse Jimbei?!" Everyone turns to Luffy's voice to see him talking to Jimbei.

Usopp grins as he joins Luffy. "That's right! Join the crew boss Jimbei!"

Chopper nods in agreement. "It'd be reassuring to have a former shichibukai join!"

Jimbei groans in frustration. "I keep telling you that I can't right now! Look, I'm honestly happy that you invited me along. I believe it would be great to travel with you, but there's something I must do first! Afterwards, I promise you that I will come meet you all and if at that time you still want me to join please invite me again."

Luffy nods. "Without a doubt!"

The others smile at that while Rose stays silent in the back of the crowd. (The something he's talking about must be about Big Mom… Before leaving the island I gotta ask him some questions.)

Zoro turns to Luffy. "So what are we doing now? Are we heading to the New World like this?"

Shirahoshi widens her eyes while tears start building up. "E-eh?! Are you leaving already?! I wanted to properly thank you and talk more!"

Sanji spoke up with hearts in his eyes. "That's a wonderful idea Shirahoshi-chwan! Let's stay at the Mermaid Café for a week!"

Usopp whacks him upside the head. "You just want to go there!"

Before anyone can say anything a royal guard was riding towards them on a flying fish while holding onto a den den mushi. "King Neptune, we found the ship. STRAW HATS, WAIT!"

The group turned to the guard in confusion as he catches up to them then puts King Neptune's den den mushi on speaker. "Luffy-kun, please don't leave yet! We still owe you a feast!"

Luffy immediately brightens up at this. "Feast?! Ok, let's call Hachi, Franky's friend and Camie too!"

Cato nods as he gets his baby den den mushi out. "I can take care of that for you guys."

Luffy nods in approval. "Great, let's go then!"

Franky quickly steers the ship over to Neptune's palace where they were greeted by Camie, Hacchi, Den, and the attendants.

"Thank you all for coming!"

"Come with us. You'll need to ride these long flounders to the banquet hall."

The group nods as Luffy, Rose, Zira, Jimbei, Ace Chopper, and Sanji ride on a giant flounder while Nami, Brook, Zoro, Hacchi, Robin, Den, Cato and Camie rode on another flounder into a dark room full of water.

Hacchi looks around nervously. "Is it really ok for us to be here?"

Franky nods. "Of course it is. You guys are our SUPER friends after all."

Luffy looks around the room frantically. "Where's the meat?"

Ace chuckles. "Relax; we'll get some meat soon."

Rose looks around with excitement in her eyes. (This is so cool! I can't wait for the party!)

Zira flies onto Roses shoulder cause her to snap out of her thoughts and turn to her. "What's up Zira?"

"We don't need to worry about Hody anymore right?"

She nods. "Yea, the island should be fine now. So, how was your first adventure as a Straw Hat pirate?"

"Besides getting kidnapped by a swamp monster, it was really exciting! You were right, everyone's great!"

Rose grins at that while petting her head. "I'm glad to hear. Just so you know, the fights are bound to get tougher from here."

Zira puffs her chest with pride. "Bring it on! We'll show those jerks what we're made of in the New World!"

Rose giggles at her enthusiasm when they heard cheering below them. Everyone looks down to see that the royal army is cheering for them.

"IT'S THE HEROES!"

"THANK YOU FOR SAVING THE ISLAND!"

Luffy groans in irritation. "DON'T CALL US HEROES! I'M EATING THE MEAT!"

Jimbei sweat drops at the statement. (He still thinks heroes and meat don't mix?)

When the flounders swam to the dark banquet hall a spotlight was shown in the middle of the room in front of them.

Shirahoshi grins in excitement. "Everyone, there's the stage!"

Chopper looks at her in confusion. "There's a stage in the banquet hall?"

Everyone looked at the stage curiously until various fishman musicians and the mermaid café dancers came on stage.

Everyone looks around in excitement before the music started playing and the party began.

Rose starts dancing around to the music when Tara, May and Lizzie swam up to her.

Rose immediately grins at the three mermaids. "Hey guys, are you ok Lizzie? I heard Caribou kidnapped you."

She nods. "Thanks to your crew I'll be alright."

May sighs. "It's creeps like him that make me want to leave this world. Do you know when you're leaving Rose?"

She shakes her head. "Not yet, but I'm sure we're not leaving till at least tomorrow."

Tara couldn't help but smile at this. "That's great, as thanks for saving the island we want to give you our findings on the comet. We can give them to you tomorrow."

Rose widens her eyes at this. "Are you sure?"

May nods. "Of course, you've inspired us to keep going with our research after all. With what you told us about the crystal and what some of the other worlds are like we'll be ready in no time."

Tara floats up to Rose and wraps her arm around her shoulders. "Meet us at the mermaid café tomorrow morning and we'll give you everything we know. For now, let's party!"

The three girls cheer at that as they join the others and started partying like there's no tomorrow.

* * *

Hours later Rose giggles as she walks outside to take a break and sees Nami, Zoro, Usopp, Chopper, Zira, and Sanji laying around.

"What are you guys doing here?"

Nami sighs as she sits up. "I'm taking a break from drinking."

Usopp nods while he stays down while rubbing his stomach. "I'm taking a break from eating and Zoro's just sleeping."

Sanji's laying down while smiling with hearts in his eyes and continuously chants. "I love this island."

Chopper is fanning him with a rag to try to snap him out of it. "I'm making Sanji take a break from the mermaids."

Rose chuckles at that when Luffy, Ace and Jimbei walk out to join them.

Luffy grins as he waves at everyone. "Hey guys."

Nami tilts her head in confusion. "What are you guys doing?"

Ace points to Jimbei. "Jimbei's gonna talk to us about what happened during the two years."

The fish man nods. "It would be best if you all learn this as well."

Rise widens her eyes at this then quietly sighs. (He's gonna talk about that huh?)

She goes next to Luffy while the group sat in front of Jimbei.

"After the war a lot of things have happened. First, Sengoku left the navy."

Usopp widens his eyes at this. "He really left?!"

Jimbei nods. "Yes, after the war Sengoku retired and nominated Aokiji to be his successor. The Gorosei however supported Akainu for the role. Aokiji usually doesn't care about titles, but he was strongly against Akainu becoming Fleet Admiral. They had no choice but to fight for the title with the winner becoming Fleet Admiral and the loser holding his tongue. "

The group stayed silent while Jimbei continued. "The fight lasted for ten days and while their powers were quite even it was settled that Aokiji won the fight. Kuzan has been Fleet Admiral for the last two years."

"Aokiji…" Luffy clenched his fists at that while the others look at Rose softly.

Rose looks around to see everyone expecting a reaction causing her to sigh. "It's ok guys, I found out when the papers came out. Is it true that Akainu quit?"

Jimbei nods. "Akainu couldn't stand the thought of working under Aokiji, so he left the marines. From what I've heard he's become an infamous bounty hunter."

Rose freezes at that before running a hand through her hair. "You gotta be kidding me…" (Akainu being a stray dog sounds awful, but it's better than him having control of the whole navy.)

Chopper blinks in confusion. "You didn't know?"

She shakes her head. "When I looked into this world back in New York it was Akainu that became Fleet Admiral, but I kind of changed that…" (Right, they don't know that I told Aokiji about the fight. Now's as good a time to tell them as any I guess…)

Sanji widens his eyes at that. "You mean you changed it because of what happened at the war?!"

She slowly sighs as she keeps her focus on her feet. "Not exactly, you guys remember that I was offered a place in the Shichibukai? Aokiji was the one who gave me the invitation. During the exchange I let it slip that he would be fighting Akainu, so he'd be strong enough to beat him."

Everyone was speechless at what she just said except for Luffy who almost choked on his food before swallowing and yelling. "YOU DID WHAT!?"

"You purposely helped Aokiji become Fleet Admiral?!" Nami asks.

Rose nods causing Zira to fly up to her face. "You never told me this! Why the hell would you let the guy who almost killed you become Fleet Admiral?!"

Rose twitches an eyebrow before pushing her away from her face. "I didn't know he was going to stab me back then! Anyway, compared to an evil lava man who doesn't care about people's lives Aokiji was the better option. Doesn't mean I forgive him for what happened at the war! Next time I see him I'm kicking his ass!"

Luffy furrows his eyebrows before grabbing her shoulders so she's facing him. "You're not leaving me out! I'm kicking his ass too!"

Rose nods in agreement. "Fine by me!"

Jimbei sighs. "I shouldn't be surprised that you did that. I believe you did the right thing in supporting Aokiji. After he took over he managed to bring down a lot of corruption in the marines. While the World Government still isn't perfect it's really improved. The World Government isn't the only thing that changed though, the power in the yonko has shifted as well. Ace, Cato told you what happened right?"

Ace slowly nods while staring at the floor. "Yea he did..."

Jimbei looks at him softly before turning to the others. "You guys also need to know this. The other change that happened during the two years was the onslaught of the Blackbeard Pirates."

Usopp tilts his head in confusion. "Blackbeard? Wasn't he the guy Ace was chas-"

He covers his mouth to shut himself up causing Ace to chuckle. "It's fine Usopp. You're right, he was the guy I was chasing because he betrayed the crew and killed one of my crewmates."

Jimbei slowly nods. "After the war he conquered most of Whitebeards territory. He even took Whitebeards place as one of the yonko. According to the rumors his crewmembers have also been power hunting, meaning that they've been killing devil fruit users and have somehow managed to take their powers."

Chopper widens his eyes at this. "I'm in danger!"

Usopp sweat drops at his attitude. "I don't think they need the human human fruit."

"What?!

Jimbei ignores them and continues. "His crew is aiming for very powerful devil fruits, especially logia users so you should be careful Rose and Ace."

Rose nods while pumping her fists. "I'd like to see that asshole try taking my devil fruit! Next time I see him I'm gonna throw something bigger than an admiral at him!"

Nami quirks an eyebrow in confusion. "What now?"

Zira chuckles before explaining. "She used her wind to throw Akainu at Blackbeard during the war to stop him from attacking the guys."

The others busted out laughing at the thought of the former admiral being thrown like a rag doll at Blackbeard.

Ace was the first to recover before smirking. "As much as I'd love to see that again I'm the one taking him down. Now that I know what he's doing I'm gonna make him pay for what he did to Pops."

Jimbei nods. "With how you are now I think you have a chance Ace. Just don't overdo it. You should be careful too Luffy since- ARE YOU EVEN LISTENING TO ME?!" He cuts himself off when he sees Luffy ignoring the conversation and eating.

Luffy ignores his complaining while eating a pile of fishman island sweets. "Hey, did you guys taste this? It's really good!"

Nami sweat drops at his actions while Jimbei is fuming. "Aren't you captain?! Take in this information!"

Sanji chuckles as he raises his hands up defensively. "It's ok since we all heard it Jimbei."

Chopper tilts his head in confusion. "Isn't the captain the one who doesn't have to listen to anything?"

"THAT'S NOT WHAT A CAPTAIN DOES!"

Luffy carelessly smiles while eating. "Relax Jimbei, I'm gonna leave it to chance."

A cloud of depression hangs over Jimbei's head. "You guys must have it hard…"

Nami, Usopp, Sanji and Chopper slowly nod. "Yea we do…"

Rose giggles at the argument then freezes. (Shit, I forgot about Caribou! I'd better help Shirahoshi.) She casually gets up so she wouldn't look suspicious then turns to the door. "I wouldn't worry about it so much Jimbei. Things tend to happen for a reason. I gotta head out for a bit. Hey Zira, wanna come with me?"

Zira nods as she flies out of the room with her then turns to her. "What are you planning Rose?"

A small smirk forms on Roses freckled face as she cracks her knuckles. "Wanna kick the swamp mans ass with me?"

Zira widens her eyes at the offer before eagerly nodding. "Hell yea! I want some revenge! Let's go!"

Rose nods as she leads Zira to where Caribou will be while Camie swims to where the others are.

"Hey guys."

Luffy swallows his food with a smile before waving at her. "Hey Camie! Wait, I thought you were with Shirahoshi."

Camie shakes her head. "She said her head was spinning from the alcohol so she went to her room."

Luffy nods before freezing. "Hey, do you guys sense something weird?"

Zoro wakes up and nods. "Yea, hold on, where did Rose go?"

"She said she was heading out for a bit. You think she left to handle it?" Chopper says.

Luffy quickly gets up and walks out. "I'm gonna see what's going on!"

Sanji , Ace, and Zoro get up and follow him out of the room to find out what's happening.

* * *

Shirahoshi was laying on her bed while remembering today's events. (I can't believe how much has happened in one day. Luffy-sama and Rose-sama are truly amazing. I want to become as strong as them too.)

Her eyes started to grow heavy when she starts to feel something slimy on her fin. "What the- MMPH!"

Her mouth was covered in mud that was trapping her body the more she struggled until the only part that was free was her upper body.

She started tearing up as she continued to struggle. (Someone help!)

"Kehihihi! Don't be afraid princess; it'll all be over soon." The mud that was holding her tail materialized into Caribou's upper half.

Shirahoshi couldn't stop weeping as she looks down at him. (Who are you?! Someone help!)

Caribou keeps a large smirk on his face as Shirahoshi slowly sinks into his mud. "Kehihihi, don't worry princess, I won't hurt you. I'm just gonna have you faint for a while. I heard that my little brother arrived at the port, so I'm taking you with me to the New World."

"You're really stupid if you think that will happen you swamp donkey!"

Caribou freezes then slowly looks up in horror to see Zira flying right above her. She creates an invisible bubble around Caribou that created an ultrasonic screech inside.

"AAAH!" Caribou places his hands over his ears to block the sound which starts releasing his hold on the princess until he creates mud over his ears to block out the noise.

"I'LL TEACH YOU TO MESS WITH ME PIDGEON!" He aims a mud ball at Zira but it was met with a wind cannon.

Caribou widens his eyes before slowly turning to Rose who's glaring at him. "AAAH! THE PHANTOM!"

Rose flew up to him while infusing her right arm in armament haki and creating a thin wind ring around her forearm. "I hope you enjoy the flight mud monkey! Rasen-Ring!"

As soon as Rose punched him in the gut she blasted him with the wind ring that sent him flying out of the castle and onto the island at top notch speed. Rose looks out the window to see how far he flew but couldn't see him. (Wow, he flew away faster than one of Team Rocket's blastoffs. I'm sure I didn't hit him hard enough to send him to the ocean.)

Tears keep running down Shirahoshi's face as she grabs Rose to hug her. "Rose-sama, I was so scared! Thank you so much!"

Zira sweat drops as she flies above them. (I helped too you know… Actually, maybe it's better I don't get hugged by her.)

Luffy, Ace, Zoro and Sanji run into the room to see Shirahoshi weeping and hugging Rose who is patting her hands in an attempt to calm her down.

Zoro quirks an eyebrow in confusion. "What happened?"

Rose turns herself into wind to fly out of Shirahoshi's embrace then lands in front of the group. "The swamp man was still here and almost kidnapped Shirahoshi, but Zira and I took care of him."

Luffy crosses his arms over his chest and starts pouting. "Aww, why didn't you tell me about him? I wanted to kick his ass too."

"Sorry Luffy, but I wanted to make sure Zira could take a crack at him after what he did to her."

Zira nods. "I'm satisfied."

Nami, Neptune and the captain of the guards rush into the room.

The guard freezes when he sees Shirahoshi. "What happened!?"

Sanji glares at him. "Shirahoshi-chan was almost kidnapped by the mud man who tried to kidnap the mermaids! Where were your guards?!"

The guard widens his eyes at this before immediately bowing to the group. "I'm so sorry! I deeply, deeply express my gratitude for rescuing her! I can't believe the treasure thief managed to come in here!"

Nami widens her eyes at what he said. "Wait, did you say treasure thief?!"

The guard nods as he straightens up. "Yes, that man stole everything from the royal treasury."

"He did what!?"

Luffy and Zoro look at the red head nervously. (I got a bad feeling about this…)

Rose nervously gulps. (I forgot he took the treasure!)

Nami turns to Neptune. "It's the country's treasure isn't it?! Aren't you going to go after him?!"

Neptune shakes his head. "After having the country's citizens saved I can't put a lot of value in treasure."

Nami freezes at this before beli symbols form in her eyes. "Does that mean if we get it back we can keep it?!"

The king nods. "Of course, I'm more than happy to give it to the country's saviors?"

"Yay!" Nami freezes before glaring at Rose, Zoro, Luffy and Sanji. "Why didn't you guys capture him when you had the chance?!"

The group looks at her nervously except for Sanji who's looking at her with hearts in his eyes as she uses her climatact to send the four of them flying out of the castle window. "GO GET IT BACK!"

"AAAH!" The group was plummeting towards the island.

Ace stares at their departure in utter shock. "You just threw them out of the castle!"

A dark aura starts coming out of Nami as she glares at him. "You want to be next?"

"No thanks!" He makes a run for it before Nami could take a crack at him.

Zira sweat drops at what she just witnessed. (Wow, Nami really is fierce. I respect that.) She chuckles before flying next to Nami.

"Thank you Nami."

Nami quirks an eyebrow at the sudden gratitude. "For what?"

"For treating Rose normally. She won't admit it, but one of her worries in coming back was that you guys would start treating her differently now that you know the truth about her."

Nami widens her eyes at this before shaking her head. "She should be worrying more about future fights. It doesn't matter where she's from, she's still my friend. I still can't believe she's alive, but I'm happy she is."

Zira nods. "So am I. Hey, want to hear some of her embarrassing stories from the past 2 years?"

Nami nods with a smirk. "Sounds like fun. Robin and I can tell you some of her embarrassing moments before we separated too."

"Then what are we waiting for?!" Zira follows Nami out of the room to go find Robin.

* * *

Rose and the boys were plummeting towards the ground until she uses her wind to soften the landing. After she cancelled the wind the four of them fell face first on the ground.

Zoro groans as he gets up. "Damn witch, I didn't even do anything!"

Sanji glares at him as he dusts off his suit. "Don't disrespect Nami-san moss head!"

Sanji and Zoro get into a brawl while Rose sighs then turns to Luffy. "Sorry about this, I forgot Caribou had the treasure."

Luffy shakes his head with a grin. "Relax, as long as we get the treasure we'll be fine. Let's get going."

Rose nods as she takes his hand and walks away from the fight with Luffy.

Sanji blocks Zoro's swords then sees the couple leaving. "Wait guys, don't leave me alone with the marimo!"

Sanji and Zoro quickly catch up to Luffy and Rose until they find a beaten up Caribou lying unconscious on the ground surrounded by the heaps of the treasure he stole from the castle.

Zoro huffs in disappointment. "Damnit, I can't fight him now since your punch already knocked him out. I can't believe how much he stored in his body."

Luffy beams in excitement as he lets go of Roses hand and rushes towards the treasure. "Awesome, we can buy so much meat now!"

Sanji blinks in surprise as he starts gathering the treasure. "Just look at it! That old man's really gonna let us keep all this?"

Rose nods as she starts picking up the treasure. "I'm pretty shocked that Neptune would do this too. Too bad not all kings care about the people like he does."

She stops herself after remembering something important. (Right, this is when Luffy calls out Big Mom! If Luffy doesn't do it then she'll crush the island… I'm not sure what will happen after Punk Hazard, but it might be best to play along with Oda's storyline for now. There has to be some reason to his madness right?)

She nods to herself as she helps the guys finish loading the treasure into four large sacks then uses her wind to get them and the bags floating. "We need to go past town to get to the castle right? Which way was it again?"

Luffy shrugs his shoulders while Zoro points to his right. "It's that way."

Sanji nods as he points to the opposite direction. "Then it must be this way. Thanks Zoro."

"Hey!"

Rose and Luffy laugh at Zoro and Sanji's bickering while Rose uses her wind to get the group flying towards town.

* * *

In front of the sweets factory on Fishman Island a large group of civilians were watching nervously from a distance as the minister is trying to reason with a lion man that's wearing a suit.

The minister looks at the lion man nervously. "Please , is there any way you might be able to overlook this matter? The factory was attacked during the incident!"

Pekoms shakes his head. "Like I've been saying minister! That civil war has nothing to do with us! Your people are supposed to prepare an offering once a month so you can use mama's name! That was the deal! You owe me some compensation or else mama's gonna hear about this!"

Rose flies above the town and sees the commotion in front of the factory. (Looks like it's time.)

Luffy spots the factory and points down to it. "Hey Rose, let's go down! I want to see if we could get some sweets from the factory."

Sanji starts glaring at Luffy. "Don't ask Rose-chan for detours shit head!"

Rose shakes her head. "It's ok Sanji, I was thinking that we should stop here too."

Sanji immediately smiles at her. "If that's what you want Rose-chan!"

Zoro quietly sighs at Sanji's actions before turning to Rose as she's starting to bring them down. (She's planning something again. This will be interesting.)

Rose lands the group in front of the factory causing everyone to stare at them in shock except for the civilians who are happily waving at them.

"Hey Straw Hat!"

"Is the banquet finished already?"

Luffy nods while happily waving back at them. "Yeah, I'm completely full. The meat was pretty good, but Fishman Islands sweets were the best!"

The citizens immediately lost their smile and started shushing him while Pekoms turns to the minister.

"Did he just say sweets?! Who are these guys?!"

He looks though his book of wanted posters until he stops at Luffy's picture. "Ah, so this is Straw Hat Luffy. Hey kid, what was that talk about sweets?!"

The minister rushes up to him. "Wait Mr. Pekoms, please let me exp-"

"Wait, you're not a fishman. Did you come to buy sweets? I just ate a whole stomach full! By the way, do you guys have any more?"

No one answered Luffy's question as Pekoms growls at the minister. "What's the meaning of this?! He ate the sweets?!"

A man with very long legs in a suit and wearing eggshell bottoms over it walks up to him. "Pekoms, threatening people left and right isn't going to help us collect the sweets-bon. Let's settle this peacefully. The tea party is in four days and if we send the candy out by tomorrow morning we can make it in time."

Rose looks at the long legged man curiously. (Wow, so this is what a guy from the long legged tribe looks like.)

Sanji furrows his eyebrows at him. "Who are you?"

The man tips his black hat to him. "My name is Baron Tamago. Tell me, did you all happen to eat the candy that was made by this factory-bon?"

Luffy nods with a toothy grin. "Yup, it was great! I'd love to have some more."

Baron Tamago sighs. "There isn't any more, that's the problem. You do realize that the big mark on the factory is our bosses symbol. The great Big Mom's pirate flag! In other words, this island is protected by Big Mom-bon."

Luffy looks up at the flag with a toothy grin. "So she's a good person right? I wanna meet her!"

The long legged man shakes his head. "Don't misunderstand, this is only business. In exchange for her protection this island must provide her with 10 tens of candy a month-bon."

Luffy widens his eyes at this. "Ten tons?!"

He nods. "Indeed, mama likes sweets more than anything else in the world. Don't worry though, we're willing to wait. Until tomorrow morning."

The minister quickly shakes his head. "I'm sorry, but that's not possible! The giant cooking devices within the factory have been destroyed! It will take at least 2 weeks to repair them!"

Tamago shakes his head. "I'm sorry, but we can't accept that."

Sanji twitches an eyebrow in irritation. "Hey Tamago, why can't you just wait?!"

Rose starts glaring Tamago and Pekoms. "Quit being unreasonable!"

Zoro nods. "What's wrong with your captain? She can't wait for candy?"

Pekoms shakes his head. "No she can't. If she doesn't receive the payment then our pact will dissolve and members of mama's crew will come and destroy Fishman Island."

Luffy starts glaring at him. "DESTROY FISHMAN ISLAND?! DESTROYING AN ISLAND OVER CANDY IS STUPID! WE JUST SAVED THE ISLAND DAMNIT!"

Before Pekoms or Tamago can respond to his protests a den den mushi with fluffy pink hair and red lipstick starts ringing on a rock behind them.

Pekoms widens his eyes behind his sunglasses. "That must be mama! I phoned in the situation to her a few minutes ago."

Pekoms looks at it nervously. "Since you called you can answer Pekoms."

The lion shakes his head. "You answer! I don't want to get yelled at!"

While the two pirates were arguing Luffy walks up to the den den mushi and answers the call. "Hey, are you Big Mom?"

Pekoms and Tamago freak out while Sanji casually smokes his cigarette while Zoro and Rose relax and enjoy the show.

"HEY! GET AWAY FROM THAT!" Pekoms and Tamago continue yelling and trying to pull him away from the snail, but it was no use.

The snail looks at Luffy curiously. "This isn't Tamago or Pekoms. Who might you be?"

"I'm Monkey D. Luffy! The man who's gonna be the king of the pirates!"

Rose giggles at Pekoms and Tamago's faces as they fall to their hands and knees in defeat.

Big Mom widens her eyes at the name. "I see, you're Garp's grandson. The boy who stirred up the war two years ago…"

Luffy nods before continuing. "There's no more candy! I ate it all!"

Big Mom quietly gasps at this. "So the news was true?! But, there was supposed to be ten tons!"

"THAT'S RIGHT, I ATE ALL TEN TONS!"

The citizens look at him nervously. "You're going too far Straw Hat!"

Pekoms quickly nods. "Yea, what's the big idea?!"

A vein starts popping on Big Mom's forehead. "You're starting to be silly boy. You shouldn't lie. You're trying to cover for the fish men right?"

"That's not true, I'm the one who ate it! I didn't know that the candy was promised to you! We have a lot of treasure here! I'll give it all to you to make up for the candy!"

Pekoms and Tamago freeze at this while Big Mom glares at Luffy. "YOU EXPECT ME TO EAT TREASURE?! I WANT CANDY!"

Rose clenches her fists at Big Moms attitude, but keeps quiet while Tamago looks at the bags.

"Are you saying that all four of those bags are treasure?"

Luffy nods. "Yup."

"I'll take care of this." Tamago takes the den den mushi from Luffy and works on convincing his captain to take the treasure.

Zoro huffs before turning to Rose. "I take it this was why you wanted to stop here?"

She nods. "Yea, if we didn't do this then fighting Hody's crew to save the island would've been pointless. I don't know what'll happen since we don't see her on the next island, but I'm sure we'll pull through."

Zoro nods. "After training for two years, I'm sure we're not gonna get killed by a psycho lady."

Sanji nods as he puffs a smoke from his cigarette. "I think you did the right thing Rose. After all, now Shirahoshi-chan is safe."

Before Rose can respond Big Mom starts yelling into her den den mushi.

"HAVE YOU GONE BRAIN DEAD TAMAGO?! HOW DARE YOU EVEN SPEAK OF SUCH A SHAMEFUL PROPOSITION?! ARE YOU SUGGESTING A PIRATE TO ACCEPT A COMPROMISE?!"

Tamago jumps in fear. "I'M SORRY!"

Big Mom calms down before smirking. "While I don't normally do this I've become interested in the brat for trying to stand up to me. As you wish Straw Hat, I'll change the target of my wrath from Fishman Island to you! Come out to the New World so we can face off Monkey D. Luffy!"

Luffy nods with a serious look in his face. "Yea, just you wait! It's too dangerous to leave you in charge anymore, so when I see you I'm gonna kick your ass and make Fishman Island my turf!"

A vein pops on Big Mom's forehead, but she keeps a smirk too big for her face on. "We'll see about that. I look forward to meeting you brat! Tamago, Pekoms, once you have the treasure come back to Whole Cake Island."

Pekoms takes the snail with a trembling paw. "Y-yes mama. We'll see you soon."

Big Mom hangs up her end of the line causing Pekoms and Tamago to let out a breath that they didn't know they were holding.

The minister kept a stunned expression on his face while turning to Luffy. "Do you have any idea what you did?! You just declared war on a yonko!"

"I don't care! She can't control the island anymore!"

Tamago looks at him nervously. (He's actually serious! At least we can get some treasure out of this experience.)

He walks towards Sanji, Zoro and Rose to grab the bags of treasure then gets a closer look at Rose. (That girl…)

He keeps quiet as he grabs 2 of the treasure bags while Pekoms grabs the rest.

Pekoms turns to the minister. "You were lucky this month. Make sure to prepare the proper payment for next month."

Before the minister can respond Luffy steps in. "He won't need to because your captain won't control the island anymore!"

Before anyone else says anything Rose steps in and places a hand on Luffy's shoulder. "Take it easy, the island will be fine. We can settle things with them when we go to the New World."

Luffy nods causing the pair to walk away along with Sanji and Zoro down the path the fishmen cleared for them.

Tamago keeps his focus on Rose before turning to Pekoms. "Does that book of yours have bounty posters of the dead Pekoms?"

Pekoms nods as he grabs his booklet of wanted posters. "Yea, why?"

"Will you show me Catone Roses poster?"

Pekoms nods as he flips through the pages then his jaw drops when he reaches Roses poster. "That's the girl we just saw?!"

Tamago nods as he keeps his stare on the path the group took. "Looks like the demon is back from the dead. Big Mom is going to want to hear about this."

Pekoms balances the two bags in one paw while holding the den den mushi in another. "I'll tell her as soon as we get on the ship."

The two pirates walk back to the ship and left the minister and citizens alone to wonder what their future will bring.

* * *

The four pirates walk into the foyer of the castle where Ace, Jimbei, Neptune and the crew were waiting for them.

Nami rushes over to them and looks around for the treasure. "Where's the treasure?"

Rose rubs the back of her head sheepishly. "About that, we kind of had to give it to Big Mom…"

Nami along with everyone else in the room stares at the group in shock. "YOU GAVE THE TREASURE TO BIG MOM?!"

Luffy nods while crossing his arms over his chest with a serious look on his face. "Yea, that woman was crazy! She said she was going to destroy the island because you didn't have candy! But relax, I said I'd kick her ass!"

Usopp, Franky, Zira and Brook start freaking out. "YOU SAID YOU'RE GONNA FIGHT ONE OF THE EMPERORS?!"

Ace groans in frustration. "You haven't even made it to the New World yet and you already started trouble. What am I gonna do with you?"

Jimbei sighs before turning to Usopp. "Take my advice, do whatever you can to not irritate her any further."

YOU THINK I WOULDN'T?!"

Nami glares at group while clenching into her climatact with a dark aura surrounding her. "Why did you have to give her everything?!"

The other guys look at her in shock. "That's why you're mad?!"

Rose flinches at her glare before raising a hand up while digging into her coat pocket with the other. "Wait, wait, wait! I saved some of the treasure!"

Nami immediately calms down and starts smiling. "You did?!"

She quickly nods as she takes a small pouch full of gold from her pocket. "I smuggled some of it in here when I was gathering it with the guys. I'm sure Big Mom won't miss this much."

Beli signs start forming in Nami's eyes as she grabs the pouch and hugs it. "Great work Rose!"

Rose chuckles at the change in attitude. "Happy to help."

Zoro sweat drops at the pair. (I don't know which one's craftier…)

Luffy laughs while raising his fists up. "Alright, let's go to the New World! How long do we have to wait until the ship is coated Franky?"

"With Den and Cato's help we can get it ready by tomorrow afternoon."

Nami nods. "Tomorrow, we should get everything we need before leaving."

The others nod while Luffy shows off a toothy grin. "In that case, let's party for out last night here!"

The rest of the crew cheers at that as they leave the banquet hall to enjoy their last night with Rose, Neptune and Jimbei lagging behind.

Before Rose can leave the room with the others Neptune swims up to her. "Wait, you knew your captain would give away the treasure correct? Did you take care of the bomb?"

Roses purple eyes become as wide a plates before she scrambles her hair. "Holy shit! I completely forgot that was in there!"

Jimbei quirks an eyebrow in confusion. "What bomb?"

Rose turns to him with a cloud of depression hanging over her head. "The captain of the guards placed bombs in one of the treasure boxes in the stash we gave Big Mom…"

Jimbei was completely stunned at the news before rubbing his temples. (Now I really have to leave Big Mom's crew…)

Rose raises her hands up defensively. "Wait, there's probably no need to panic. That bomb is years old so it's possible that it's no good anymore." (If it's still good though who knows what'll happen…)

Neptune quickly nods. "You're right! That bomb probably went bad!"

She nods. "In any case, it's our problem now. We can take care of it, so you don't need to worry about it your highness."

"Please call me Neptune. Thank you for reassuring me and I apologize for our carelessness."

"Don't worry about it, but please don't tell the others about the bomb. They'll only freak out more."

Neptune nods before leaving to join the others in the banquet hall.

Rose walks up to Jimbei with a serious look on her face. "You're going to see Big Mom to quit her crew correct?"

Jimbei jolts at the question before sighing. "So you knew about that too huh? It's true."

She nods. "I think it's best not to tell her about the bomb or she'll think we left it there on purpose."

He shivers at the thought. "I think you're right, I'll keep it a secret for you."

"Thank you, if it's ok with you I'd like to ask you something as well."

"What is it?"

"Does Big Mom have any kind of devil fruit power we should be aware of?"

Jimbei widens his eyes at the question. "You don't know?!"

She nods with a small frown on her face. "After the next island I will no longer know the crews future adventures. We won't be meeting Big Mom on that island, so she's a mystery. I've tried asking Shanks about her when I was training with him, but he always avoided the subject and warned me to stay away from her."

Jimbei nods. "He was right in telling you to stay away from her. I'll tell you what I know about her as thanks for helping the island."

Rose nods as she grabs her journal from her bag along with a pen to jot down some notes.

"Big Mom has a devil fruit called the soul soul fruit. It gives her the ability to extract the life span of whoever she touches by the amount of years of her choice and absorbs it into her body."

Roses breath hitches at that. (Holy shit, this bitch is dangerous!)

"She can also use her ability to bring inanimate objects to life by placing harvested life spans into them."

"I see." (So she can create an object army. We got a tough fight ahead of us…)

"That's all I know in concerns of her devil fruit. I've heard that a lot of her children have devil fruits as well, but I don't know them."

She nods as she jots it down. "That's ok, knowing this much is really useful. Wait, she does the family system like Whitebeard did?"

He shakes his head. "No, she has a total of 84 biological children."

Roses eyes bug out at the information. "What the hell?!" (If that's the case then Lola really could be Big Moms kid!)

Jimbei nods. "It's true, she marries them off to different crews in order to become stronger and achieve her dream."

Rose quirks an eyebrow at this. "Her dream?"

"Yes, her dream is to have a family with all of the worlds races."

She could only stare at him as she processed this information. "Wow, I didn't expect that from her…" (I gotta admit, that dream is pretty interesting. It kind of sucks that she puts her kids in arranged marriages for it though.)

"It came as a shock for me too when I first found out."

She nods as she finishes jotting down her notes and closes the book. "In any case, this information will be really helpful in the future. Thanks Jimbei."

He nods before looking at her softly. "You're welcome, but there's something you need to know. You're the one who's going to be in the most danger against Big Mom."

Rose freezes at this. "You mean because of my heritage?"

He nods. "You're the only one of your kind in this world. Big Mom will stop at nothing to have you in her possession once she finds out you're alive."

She slowly nods while clenching her journal. (It makes sense if she wants every race in her family. Doesn't mean I'm going to let that crazy monster have me though.) "I understand, I'll be on my guard when the time comes. Will you be ok though? I mean leaving her crew."

Jimbei grins at the concern before nodding. "There's nothing to fear. She doesn't kill her crewmembers that want to leave. Once I leave her crew I'll be ready to join the crew."

Rose grins at this. "Great, I can't wait to have you in the crew."

Before Jimbei can respond Luffy runs into the room. "What are you guys standing around here for?! Come join the fun!"

The two pirates nod as they join Luffy in the banquet hall to enjoy their last night on Fishman Island together while Rose silently wonders what the future awaits her and the crew.

TO BE CONTINUED


	42. Important Story Announcement!

Hello everyone, sorry for the disappointment but this is an important announcement to all the fans of this story. I've been thinking long and hard about this since last semester and after careful consideration I've decided to start over and revise the story. When I first started this story I didn't know what I was doing with Roses character and I was playing it by ear. I honestly never expected you all to appreciate the story this much. I want to give you all something great to read, but I can't continue the arcs in good conscience unless I know you like it from beginning to end. I've decided to change the arc that Rose starts out in as well as improve how they meet. The arcs afterwards that I have already written about I would like to also improve by adding more bonding time as well as improve the arcs that I felt were rushed such as Marineford.

I want to honestly thank you all for following me this far and I hope that when I start over you're willing to bear with my selfish actions. I hope to see you soon.

Long live the pirate king!


	43. Important Story Announcement Update!

Hello everyone, I'm almost done with the first chapter of the revised version of The Comet Wish. I know a lot of people have been wondering if the old version will stay up and the answer is yes, but only on this site. I will be putting the revised version up as a new story (might make a new title as well, but not sure yet.) If you want me to announce on here that the new revision is up then let me know. I'm also looking for a beta reader if anyone is interested so I can avoid too many grammar errors. If you want to then feel free to let me know. I think that's it on the announcements except that you should be able to see it up this week. I'll see you later guys :)


	44. The revision is up!

Hey everyone, this is my last announcement and update on this version of the story. I'm proud to announce that the new revision is up in my profile now! I gave the story a new title called Wish on a Comet (I thought it flowed better than The Comet Wish.). As I mentioned before Rose will be starting out in a different arc than the Davy Back Fight, but I'm going to leave what it'll be a surprise for all of you. I hope you enjoy! :D


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